THE  LETTERS  OF 
JENNIE  ALLEN  TO 

HER  FRIEND 
MISS  •  MUSGROVE 


GRACE  •  DONWORTH 


C 


THE   LETTERS   OF   JENNIE   ALLEN 

TO 

HER  FRIEND  MISS  MUSGROVE 


.  OF  GAL1F.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


/  says  "  That  will  be  as  Jim  and  Mame  say,"   only  adding  that 
our  meals  was  plain  and  unpretentious  as  a  rule 

See  page  289 


THE 

LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

TO 

HER  FRIEND  MISS  MUSGROVE 

BY 

GRACE   DONWORTH 


WITH    SIXTEEN    ILLUSTRATIONS    BY 
FREDERIC  R.  GRUGER 


BOSTON 

SMALL,  MAYNARD  AND  COMPANY 
MCMVIH 


COPYRIGHT,   1908 

BY  SMALL,  MAYNARD  AND  COMPANY 
(INCORPORATED) 


Entered  at  Stationers'   Hall 


Printed,  October,  1908 
Reprinted,  November,  1908 


PRESSWORK   BY 
THB   UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    CAMBRIDGE,    U.S.A. 


TO    MY    BROTHER 

GEORGE   DONWORTH 


2129074 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACK 

I  says  "That  will  be  as  Jim  and  Mame  say,"  only 
adding  that  our  meals  was  plain  and  unpretentious 
as  a  rule  (See  page  289) Frontispiece 

I  talked  with  you  quite  a  spell  about  the  sufferers  and 

said  wan't  it  awful  about  that  earthquake    ...          2 

I'm  learning  him  the  colledge  yell.      He  says  it  after 

his  prayers  every  night 12 

I  asked  Mandy  afterwards  how  she  knew  so  well  how 

she  acted  when  she  didn'  t  know 18 

When  I  asked  her  she  looked  awful  sorrerful  and  says, 
I  ain't  got  no  disease,  Jen  ;  I've  had  trouble  with 
my  feller 24 

"  Simply  is  the  right  word,"  says  Mame     ....        36 

Well,   Sis  opened   the  door  and  who  in  all  creation 

should  stand  there  but  our  minnistar,  Mr.  Oglevie        40 

She  follered  me  down  stairs  with  an  azalium  plant  in 

her  arms  that  Dinny  had  give  her  on  her  berthday        46 

"  Jen,  a  man  sozzling  along  without  wife  is  like  sow 
ing  without  no  under  thread.  It  might  jest  as  well 
not  be  done  at  all " 70 

"Hannah  Allen!"  says  Mrs.  Ingraham  in  a  joyous 
tone  j  "  what  on  earth  have  you  done  to  them 
pants  !  I  can't  see  whare  the  patches  leave  off  and 
the  pants  begin !" 82 

vii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGI 

By  this  time  Sis  had  tried  onto  the  boddy  her  new 
doll's  head  and  much  to  every  one's  joy  it  fitted. 
A  pink  necktie  fastened  it  on  secure  and  there  she 
was  compleat 96 

"I  thought  you  didn't  look  at  him,"  I  says.  "Oh  ! 
do  you  suppose  a  girl  has  to  look  at  a  man  to  see 
him?"  says  Ellen 172 

Nex  morning  he  asked  if  he  could  be  of  any  serviss 

and  Mandy  set  him  to  cleaning  the  lamps    .     .      180 

"  The  South  America  lady  " 202 

We  liked  to  died  larfing  one  night  when  he  wound 

them  up  for  us 208 

"It's  easy  enough  to  get  into  them,"  he  says,  "but 

it's  impossible  to  get  out  of  'em  again  "...      270 


Vlll 


THE 

LETTERS   OF  JENNIE   ALLEN 

TO    HER    FRIEND 

MISS   MUSGROVE 


THE  LETTERS 
OF  JENNIE    ALLEN 

I 

Providence,  April  the  a^th  1906. 
Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  took  some  close  into  the  armerry  and 
give  them  to  you  to  send  to  the  sufferers 
out  to  Californy  and  I  hate  to  trouble  but 
I  got  to  have  one  of  them  back.  It  was  a 
black  all-wool  shevyott  with  a  jacket  to 
match  trimmed  kind  of  fancy  number  38 
burst  mesure  and  passymenterry  acrost  the 
front  and  the  collar. 

I  wouldn't  trouble  you  but  it  belonged  to 
my  brother's  wife  and  she  is  mad  about  it. 
I  thought  she  was  willing  but  she  wan't. 
She  says  she  wan't  done  with  it  and  she  was 
going  to  wear  it  a  spell  longer.  She  aint 
so  free-hearted  as  what  I  am  and  she  has 

i 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

got  more  to  do  with  than  I  have  having  a 
husband  to  work  and  slave  for  her. 

I  guess  you  remember  me.  I  am  short 
and  stout  and  light  complected.  I  talked 
with  you  quite  a  spell  about  the  sufferers 
and  said  wan't  it  awful  about  that  earth 
quake.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  they  had 
another  one  right  off  seeing  the  general  con 
dition  of  the  country  is  kind  of  explosive. 
I  hate  to  take  that  black  dress  away  from 
the  sufferers  but  I  will  hunt  round  and  see 
if  I  can  get  another  one.  I  will  call  to  the 
armerry  for  the  other  one  if  you  will  jest 
lay  it  aside  so  no  more  at  pressant  from  your 
true  freind,  Jennie  Allen. 

No  21  Scott  Court 

Providence  R.  I. 
I  liked  your  appearence  very  much. 


/  talked  with  you  quite  a  spell  about  the  sufferers  and  said  waif  t 
it  awful  about  that  earthquake 


II 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  got  your  letter  all  right.  Now  don't 
you  worry  any  more  about  the  black  suit. 
When  I  told  Mame  what  you  said  she  felt 
reel  bad  about  you  fretting  over  it  and  she 
says,  good  Lord,  she  must  think  I'm  meaner 
than  dirt. 

I  give  her  one  of  them  feathar  boars  sech 
as  is  all  the  go  and  she  was  tickled  to  death 
over  it  and  it  kind  of  made  it  up  to  her 
about  losing  the  suit.  She  is  reel  amable 
by  nature  but  she  has  been  awful  tried  this 
spring  what  with  one  thing  and  another  and 
she  aint  herself.  Jim  says  to  me  one  day 
Go  slow  with  Mame  for  a  spell,  she  is 
awful  tried  what  with  the  young  ones  and 
the  spring  cleaning,  and  a  fire  broke  out  in 
our  bacement  that  threttcned  to  lose  our 

3 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

little  all  the  same  week  as  the  Californy 
earth  quake. 

Everybody  has  their  troubles  and  take  it 
right  straight  through  our  crosses  aint  no 
heavier  than  we  can  bare.  They's  a  higher 
power  that  watches  over  us  and  protecks  us 
from  injerry. 

I  hope  you  have  got  along  fine  with  your 
good  work.  No  more  at  presant  from  your 
true  freindj  Jennie  Allen. 


Ill 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  had  ought  to  answer  your  letter  before 
but  I  didn't  get  time.  I  would  like  to  go 
down  to  Maine  first  rate  but  I  am  needed 
to  home  the  werst  way. 

I've  got  a  sister  that  aint  very  bright. 
She  used  to  have  fits  but  she  is  easing  up 
on  them  now,  averaging  only  one  every  lit 
tle  while.  She  can  work  all  right  and  she 
does  the  heft  of  the  heavy  work  but  she 
aint  got  any  head  to  plan.  She  lacks  judg 
ment.  Jest  to  show  you,  I  give  her  some 
money  Crismuss  seeing  she  was  out  of  so 
many  things  she  needed  and  what  did  she 
do  but  go  and  have  her  picture  taken.  If 
you  could  see  her  you  would  know  it  was 
the  worst  thing  she  could  do.  She  needs 
a  giding  hand.  Her  and  Mame  is  apt  to 

5 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

have  a  few  scraps  in  the  coarse  of  a  day 
and  I  have  to  be  here  to  kind  of  straighten 
things  out. 

Then  another  thing  my  brother  Jim  is 
naturally  temperet  but  sometimes  he  gets 
led  away  and  comes  home  feeling  pretty 
good,  then  I  have  to  help  him  up  the  back 
way  and  carm  him  down.  Mame  is  too  up 
and  coming  with  him  and  it  riles  him. 

And  if  I  want  needed  I  dont  beleive  I 
could  leave  Jamesy.  He  is  the  one  next 
to  the  baby  and  he  is  awful  cute  and  cun 
ning  in  his  ways,  and  loving  as  can  be.  He 
sleeps  with  me  nights.  I  brought  him  up 
by  hand  and  I  think  the  world  of  him  and 
so  does  he  me. 

You  see  how  it  is  especielly  about  poor 
Mandy.  Almost  Mother's  last  words  was, 
Don't  put  Mandy  into  an  institution  and 
Jim  says,  Mother,  don't  you  worry.  Me 
and  Jennie  will  look  out  for  Mandy. 

I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  chanst 
and  I  wish  I  could  go.  It  is  cool  and  re- 

6 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

freshing  in  Maine.  We  used  to  live  there 
once — down  to  Chictooset.  I  wish  you 
well.  Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 

I  know  a  girl  that  would  go  most  likely. 
Her  name  is  Ellen  Hennersey.  I  guess 
she  will  go  up  to  see  you  if  you  want  her 
to.  She  is  Irish  but  very  plessant. 


IV 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

Your  letter  is  at  hand  and  contents  noted. 
The  youngones  has  tore  it  all  up  for  money 
so  I  have  forgot  how  many  aperns  you  have 
got  to  make  but  send  them  down  and  I 
guess  I  can  make  all  there  is. 

It  don't  make  much  ords  what  I  work  on 
without  it's  rappars.  Rappars  is  my  fav- 
rite  ockipation,  seeing  they  are  more  inter 
esting  than  aperns,  unless  the  aperns  is 
trimmed  with  tucks  and  aiging  and  then 
they  seem  foolish.  What  they  calkilate  to 
do  is  jest  to  perfect  your  close  and  it  aint 
sense  to  fix  them  so  they  need  pertecting 
themselves.  But  with  rappars  it's  differant 
and  when  I'm  making  them  for  Clapp  and 
Palmer  I  always  make  beleive  I  know  what 
kind  of  a  woman  is  going  to  wear  them. 

8 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I  made  a  beauty  last  week  and  I  named  the 
lady  that  was  going  to  wear  it  Mrs.  Saint 
Clare.  I  imagined  she  was  tall  and  slim 
and  I  made  it  kind  of  small  for  a  36. 

I  never  slight  the  button  holes,  though 
they  don't  pay  no  more  for  good  button 
holes  than  they  do  for  mizzable  ones  that 
ravvle  out  at  the  slightest  provocation.  I 
don't  make  so  much  money  because  it  takes 
time  to  make  them  good  but  I  wouldn't 
be  seen  slying  in  sech  ones  as  is  usuelly 
found  on  botten  rappars. 

Then  I  sew  on  the  buttons  extry  strong, 
though  I  know  nobody  will  ever  know  who 
it  was  that  took  sech  pains  with  them;  but 
I  know  more  than  one  will  say,  These  is 
awful  good  butten  holes  for  a  botten  rap- 
par,  and  I  see  I  aint  got  to  fortyfy  these 
buttons  and  life  aint  any  too  full  of  pleas- 
sant  little  surprises  like  that. 

Mame  says  it  carms  and  soothes  her  jest 
to  hem  dish-cloths,  25  cents  a  groce  for 
Tanney  &  Wilber,  but  I  like  something  that 

9 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

requiers  talent  and  gives  better  pay.  I  lay 
by  so  much  every  week  for  Jamesy's  edduca- 
tion.  He  is  going  to  Brown  if  my  health 
is  spared.  I  got  68$  now  and  he  aint  but 
three  years  old.  He  is  going  to  take  all 
the  hire  branches.  Jim  says  what's  the  use 
of  him  studying  Latin,  he  wont  never  go 
there;  but  I  tell  him  maybe  he  will  travel 
in  all  the  forrin  parts  there  is.  Jamesy 
knows  he  is  going  to  Brown  when  he  is 
grown  up  and  he  loves  the  little  brown  ban 
ners  I've  made  for  his  hosecart  and  otto. 

Once  I  had  him  with  me  when  I  was 
crossing  the  campers  with  some  work  and 
he  had  a  picture  book  under  his  arm  what 
the  lady  Had  give  him,  and  if  that  dear  lit 
tle  feller  didn't  march  up  the  steps  of  one 
of  the  big  buildings  as  if  he  belonged  there. 
A  young  man  was  right  behind  him  and  he 
larfed  and  says,  come  along  in,  sonny. 
So  he  acchelly  went  in  and  staid  a  spell. 
It  give  me  an  awful  start  because  it  was 
jest  the  sight  I  had  thought  about  so  much 
10 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

when  I  set  sewing  and  planning  for  Jamesy. 
I  expeck  I'm  foolish  but' it  made  me  cry 
for  joy.  I  aint  any  doubt  it  was  a  sign  give 
to  me  that  things  was  coming  out  for  Jamesy 
like  I  planned.  I'm  learning  him  the  col- 
ledge  yell.  He  says  it  after  his  prayers 
every  night. 

You  ask  me  if  I  work  evenings.  I  do 
without  there's  something  extry  going  on. 
Last  night  I  couldn't  compose  myself  to 
sew  on  account  of  some  music  we  had.  Jim 
fetched  home  a  feller  from  the  shop  that 
played  on  the  fiddle.  He  done  the  best 
he  could  and  we  all  listened  respeckful  to 
the  poor  feller,  but  he  didn't  keep  no  kind 
of  time.  He  give  jest  the  same  amount  of 
time  to  one  of  them  teenty  little  black- 
headed  notes  as  he  did  to  a  big  round  whole 
one.  Mr.  Spinney  was  in  here  and  he  said 
the  fiddler  man  was  nothing  more  than  a 
musical  soshelist  because  a  reel  soshelist 
spoils  the  melody  of  life  by  giving  to  a 
whole  note  like  Roosevelt  or  Taft  the  same 

ii 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

value  as  they  do  to  a  little  i6th  black  ditch 
digger  and  no  more. 

Mr.  Spinney  is  the  one  that  has  the  front 
room  two  floors  up  and  is  awful  entertain 
ing.  He  is  a  Maine  man  but  a  perfeck  gen 
tleman.  So  is  his  mother.  She  is  there  yet 
and  is  an  invalid  of  the  werst  kind.  She 
aint  able  to  set  up  and  he  has  to  spend  all 
his  prophets  squaring  up  for  operations  and 
treatments,  but  he  don't  never  complain  and 
worships  the  ground  she  walks  on.  She  has 
had  to  forego  4  operations  besides  other  ex 
penses.  He  says  she  has  managed  to  hold 
on  to  her  appendicks  so  far  but  they  may 
go  any  time.  He  says  he  wont  never  feel 
settled  till  they  are  desposed  of.  He  dar- 
sent  launch  out  very  big  and  break  into 
what  he  calls  Mother's  appendicks  fund. 
When  the  boys  want  him  to  go  in  a  little 
strong  he  says,  Durn  it,  what's  the  fift  com 
mandment  for  any  way,  if  it  aint  to  be  kep? 

A  man  nex  door  has  jest  fell  down  the 
seller  stairs  and  they  have  sent  for  me.  He 

12 


/'  rn  learning  him  the  colledge  yell.      He  says  it  after  bis  prayers 
every  night 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

has  broke  his  fashel  bone.  Mr.  Spinney 
says  you  can't  rise  with  the  lark  if  you've 
been  on  one  the  night  before.  Hoping  this 
will  be  satisfacterry, 

Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


T3 


V 

Providence,  August  2ith 
Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 
Jamesy  is  dead. 

He  died  at  20  minutes  to  four  this  morn 
ing  of  collery  infantum  superinduced  by 
a  low  state  of  the  blood  and  intence  heat. 
I  can't  write  any  more  now.     I  will  see 
that  you  get  the  aperns.      Jennie  Allen, 
he  was  jest  the  same  as  my  own  child. 


VI 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  was  awful  glad  to  get  your  letter  it  was 
so  heartfull  and  consoling.  All  the  people 
that  knows  us  has  ben  awful  kind  to  us 
in  our  dispensation  of  Providence.  The 
neighbors  and  freinds  come  in  with  flowers 
and  set  peaces.  One  of  them  was  a  lier 
surrounded  with  mertle  and  smelt  lovely. 
Mame  took  it  the  hardest  of  all  and  had 
to  be  carmed  down  with  morfeen  in  fre 
quent  intervals.  It  is  funny  the  differant 
ways  greaf  and  sorrer  affecks  differant  peo 
ple. 

Jim  looked  like  death  and  jest  hung 
round  and  didn't  know  what  to  do  with 
himself.  He  says  to  me  afterwards,  Jen, 
I  never  wanted  a  drink  so  bad  in  my  life. 

I  didn't  let  on  but  I  knew  what  he  was 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

up  against  because  I  know  when  he  is  blue 
and  discurridged  the  appetite  comes  on  the 
feircest.  So  I  hunted  up  all  the  ord  jorbs 
I  could  think  of  for  him  to  do  and  tried  to 
cheer  him  up  and  hid  all  the  small  change. 
He  had  got  leave  of  absence  from  the  shop 
which  they  hadn't  ought  to  do  because  work 
is  the  panacear  in  all  afflictions. 

At  last  he  says  kind  of  careless,  Got  any 
small  change? 

And  I  says,  Yes,  Jim,  but  I  got  to  use  it. 

Then  I  see  him  kind  of  slinking  out  of 
the  back  door,  and  I  tried  to  think  of  one 
more  jorb  to  keep  him  busy,  but  everything 
round  the  house  was  in  apple  pie  order 
and  he  knew  it.  Mame  was  asleep  and  the 
youngones  was  in  the  neighbors.  Every 
thing  was  frightful  it  was  so  quiet.  I  run 
into  the  setting-room  and  I  says  to  Mandy 
Mandy,  I  don't  see  but  you  have  got  to 
make  beleive  have  a  fit.  We  have  got  to 
keep  Jim  in  the  house  some  way. 

She  was  on  in  a  minute  and  I  hollered 
16 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

to  Jim  come  back  quick,  you're  needed. 
He  come  russian  back  and  done  all  he  could 
for  Mandy  who  was  on  the  floor  threshing 
round  at  a  great  rate.  That  saved  the  day. 
I  asked  Mandy  afterwards  how  she  knew 
so  well  how  she  acted  when  she  didn't  know 
and  she  said  Sis  had  went  through  them 
capers  lots  of  times  jest  to  give  her  an  idea 
of  what  she  had  passed  through. 

Sis  is  the  oldest  child  and  she  is  named 
Jennie  for  me  but  we  all  call  her  Sis  to  tell 
her  from  me.  She  is  a  nice  child  old-fash 
ioned  and  quiet  as  can  be,  and  she  makes 
us  think  of  Mother  quite  a  lot.  The  way 
she  squizzles  up  her  eyes  when  she  smiles 
calls  Mother  to  mind  very  foarcible.  She 
never  has  to  be  punished  or  chastised  and 
don't  want  any  better  fun  than  to  set  and 
sew  on  dish-cloths  or  tidies.  She  has  al 
ways  appeared  to  be  her  father's  favoryte; 
so  when  I  see  him  setting  by  Jamesy's  bed 
with  his  head  in  his  hands  I  told  her  to 
go  in  and  comfort  Father.  I  didn't  take 

17 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

notice  she  was  sucking  the  candy  lamb  Mrs. 
Hennersey  had  give  her.  She  was  calki- 
lating  to  keep  it  for  a  keepsake  but  the 
other  young  ones  had  got  afowl  of  it  and 
had  dirtyed  it  all  up,  playing  with  it  on 
the  floor  and  round  the  stove  so  she  had  to 
suck  it  off  clean  every  little  while.  She 
had  to  let  them  have  it  or  they  would  bawl 
and  make  a  noys.  Well,  she  clim  up  in 
her  father's  lap  and  soon  as  that  candy  lamb 
touched  his  clean  shirt  boosom  that  he 
was  bound  to  put  on  though  it  would'nt  be 
due  in  the  natural  course  of  events  for  two 
days  more  (he  put  it  on  out  of  respeck  to 
Jamesy)  he  give  her  a  push  to  get  out  of 
the  way.  He  never  done  sech  a  thing  in 
all  his  life  before  but  it  takes  all  kinds  to 
make  a  world. 

I  wish  you  could  see  that  poor  child. 
She  didn't  holler  or  say  a  word.  She  jest 
crep  away  in  a  corner  and  shook  and  sobbed 
to  herself.  Then  he  clapped  the  climacks 
by  telling  her  to  chase  out. 

18 


/  asked  Mandy  afterwards  bow  she  knew  so  well  bow  she  acted 
when  she  didn'  t  know 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I  don't  think  he  would  of  done  it  if  one 
of  the  women  that  come  in  hadn't  ben  try 
ing  to  console  him  and  said,  Now  suppos 
ing  it  was  Sis.  You  can  see  it  was  about 
the  worst  thing  she  could  give  utterance 
to.  She  had  no  tack.  From  your  true 
freind,  Jennie  Allen. 

Sometimes  it  seems  as  if  I  couldn't  stand 
it;  but  I  try  to  manage  to  do  my  crying 
nights. 

Last  night  I  took  his  little  flannin  night 
gown  and  put  the  sleeves  round  my  neck 
and  made  believe  I  could  hear  him  say, 
Dood  night,  aunt  Nennie. 

I  expeck  I  done  wrong  to  make  sech  an 
idol  of  him  and  I  was  punished  by  him 
being  took  away  where  there  aint  no  sin  nor 
sorrer. 


VII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  am  much  obliged  for  the  picture.  It 
is  reel  pretty  and  I  love  to  look  at  the  dear 
little  innocent  feller  holding  his  own  among 
them  crafty-looking  old  codgers.  When 
Jim  see  the  name  of  the  picture,  Christ 
among  the  docters,  he  said  he  guessed  it 
was  the  last  time  he  was  among  'em.  He 
said  he  didn't  see  no  signs  nowdays  of  his 
influance  among  them.  He  feels  awful 
hard  against  docters  since  Jamesy  was 
called  to  Heaven.  He  says  it  wouldn't  of 
ben  that  way  if  he  had  been  doctered  dif- 
ferant. 

Then  we've  had  Mandy  diagnosticated 

by  2  physicians  and  Dr.  Mary  Shute  and 

the  whole  three  disagrees  with  all  the  rest. 

Dr.  Mary  says  Mandy  most  likely  will  out- 

20 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

live  us  all  and  Mr.  Spinney  says  it  is  a 
case  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 

He  alwers  has  to  have  his  little  joke  and 
it  don't  do  no  harm  as  I  know  of.  He  was 
here  once  when  Mandy  was  seazed  with  a 
spell  and  he  left.  When  Jim  told  him 
he'd  ought  to  have  staid,  he  says,  I  always 
come  away  when  I  see  fit. 

Jim  took  that  all  right  but  got  mad  an 
other  time.  Jim  was  saying  that  if  Roose 
velt  hadn't  done  nothing  else  for  us  he'd 
contributed  two  immortal  sayings  to  our 
language  the  strenerous  life  being  one 
and  a  houseful  of  happy  children  the  other. 

Put  em  together,  says  Mr.  Spinney,  for 
it's  all  one  saying. 

He  was  twitting  on  facks  because  we  do 
average  quite  a  number  and  me  and  Jim 
has  quite  of  a  tussle  getting  close  and  vit- 
tles  for  all ;  but  no  one  aint  heard  us  com 
plain  so  fur.  Mr.  Spinney  is  2  floors  up 
and  when  the  young  ones  is  carrying  on 
very  partickler  he  comes  in  and  says,  Play- 

21 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ing  tennis,   kids,   aint  yer?     I   thought   I 
heard  the  racket. 

He  has  got  lots  of  nerve  but  you  have 
got  to  have  all  the  nerve  there  is  to  carry 
you  through  this  world  or  any  other  world 
I've  ever  heard  tell  of,  especially  in  the 
insurance  business  so  no  more  at  presant 
from  Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


22 


VIII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I'm  terrible  worried  about  Ellen  Hen- 
nersey  and  I  make  bold  to  call  to  mind 
what  you  said  about  doing  me  any  little 
f  aver.  If  you  know  of  anybody  that  wants 
to  hire  an  awful  nice  pretty  girl  as  good 
as  gold  to  go  off  in  the  country  and  work, 
she  is  the  one.  But  I  aint  sure  she  will 
leave  the  city  and  give  up  all  hopes  of  him. 
Don't  you  remember  I  recommended  her 
to  go  down  to  Maine  to  work  for  you? 

We  all  set  great  store  by  Ellen.  Her 
and  her  mother  lives  up  stairs  and  she  is 
as  pretty  as  a  picture  till  this  spell  come 
over  her.  She  has  ben  pindling  away  and 
looked  so  picked  we  thought  she  must  have 
some  disease  nawring  at  her  vitals.  But 
when  I  asked  her  she  looked  awful  sorrer- 

23 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ful  and  says,  I  ain't  got  no  disease,  Jen; 
I've  had  trouble  with  my  feller. 

Well,  she  up  and  told  me  the  whole  story. 
I  knew  her  and  Dinny  Caffrety  had  ben 
keeping  company  quite  a  long  spell,  and 
I  took  notice  he  had  stopped  hanging 
round;  but  seeing  I  never  took  any  fancy 
to  him  it  didn't  worry  me  none.  But  it 
did  Ellen,  it  seems.  She  says,  O  Jen,  I 
don't  want  to  live  if  I  can't  get  Dinny 
back.  And  me  all  the  time  thinking  she 
had  turned  him  down. 

She  says  a  blonde  demmingstraighter 
down  to  Clapp  &  Palmer's  has  got  him 
in  her  foils  and  he  aint  got  no  eyes  for  any 
body  else;  and  mind  you  Ellen  the  sweet 
est  and  prettiest  girl  you  ever  saw.  I  aint 
got  anything  against  demmingstraighters 
in  general.  I  know  one  that  is  a  member 
of  the  Babtist  church  and  fears  both  God 
and  man;  but  this  one  is  a  differant  kind. 
She  makes  up  to  every  young  man  she  sees 
and  fassinates  them.  I  told  Ellen  it  wan't 

24 


§ 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

nothing  but  infatuation  and  she  could  plan 
to  meet  Dinny  by  accident  and  have  a  nice 
little  talk  and  invight  him  to  come  in  that 
evening.  But  she  is  too  proud-sperrited 
and  wont  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  Then  I 
recommended  her  to  take  up  with  some 
other  young  man  because  I  know  jealousy 
is  a  powerful  weapon.  But  no.  She  says 
she  would  ruther  die  than  take  up  with 
another  feller  after  she  has  ben  engaged 
to  Dinny.  Why  she  says,  I  couldn't  ever 
keep  company  with  anybody  else  even  if 
I  never  saw  Dinny  again.  So  I  concluded 
argueing  done  no  good  and  the  best  thing 
would  be  change  of  scenery  and  vittles. 

That  was  why  I  was  so  feirce  to  have  her 
go  down  to  Maine.  Like  as  not  she  would 
see  some  likely  young  feller  that  would 
make  her  forget  all  about  that  Dinny  that 
I  aint  got  any  very  great  opinion  of.  He 
aint  bright  and  lively  like  Mr.  Spinney, 
and  I  ben  hoping  he  and  Ellen  would  strike 
up  a  match.  I  plan  to  have  them  meet  here 
25 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

evenings  and  I  can  see  he  is  terrible  taken 
with  her  looks.  He  likes  pretty  girls  as 
well  as  the  nex  one,  and  she  is  uncommon 
handsome  with  big  blue  eyes  that  has  got 
thick  black  curly  lashes  round  them.  I 
never  saw  anything  so  pretty  as  Ellen's 
eyes — not  stars  nor  flowers  nor  the  sky,  nor 
nothing  I  ever  come  acrost  is  half  so  pretty. 
Then  her  mouth  and  teeth  is  jest  lovely  and 
her  cheeks  was  pink  only  till  now  when 
she  is  pindling  down.  So  good  gracious, 
what  on  earth  that  Dinny  Caffrety  can  see 
in  that  demmingstraighter  after  being  so 
much  in  Ellen's  company  is  more  than  flesh 
and  blood  can  sense.  Then  she  is  sech  a 
little  lady  in  her  ways  and  is  so  soft- 
spoken.  Mr.  Spinney  says  there  is  in  her 
voice  the  reverberations  of  far-off  drawing- 
rooms.  I  alwers  remember  what  he  says 
even  when  I  don't  exackly  sense  what  he 
means.  Any  way  you  can  see  he  likes  her 
and  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  my  wishes  about 
26 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

them  come  true.     He  has  got  propiniquity 
in  his  faver  that  they  tell  so  much  about. 

So  if  you  know  of  anybody  that  needs 
help  of  any  kind  that  is  honest,  send  me 
word  and  I  will  let  you  down  easy  on  the 
price  of  my  work  to  pay  for  it.  It  greaves 
us  all  to  see  the  poor  little  girl  meaching 
away  to  nothing.  Jamesy  used  to  make 
her  laugh  when  nothing  else  could.  Now 
he's  gone  she  is  worse  than  ever.  She  set 
the  greatest  store  by  Jamesy  and  when  it 
was  all  over  I  gave  her  his  red  shoes  for 
a  keepsake.  We  couldn't  have  give  them 
to  anybody  else.  Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 

P.  S.  We  ben  awfull  worryed  about 
Ponto  because  he  run  away  this  morning 
but  Bub  jest  stuck  his  head  in  the  door  and 
says  Ponto  is  back.  I  found  him  at  the 
cobblers  with  a  smiling  face  and  2  buttens 
off. 


27 


IX 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  am  glad  the  work  suited  you.  You 
needent  pay  me  till  I  finish  the  whole  jorb. 
It  won't  be  much  any  way.  I  am  alwers 
moderate  with  freinds. 

Last  Thursday  was  Mandy's  birthday 
and  Jim  said  he  was  going  to  take  her  to 
Keith's  instead  of  giving  her  a  treat  same 
as  he  alwers  does.  I  guess  he  will  regret 
it  to  his  dying  day. 

Mandy  is  apt  to  be  taken  notice  of  in 
the  street  so  we  fixed  her  all  up  in  black 
so  to  make  her  look  quiet  and  unobtrusive. 
They  set  pretty  far  back  and  Jim  done  all 
he  could  to  make  it  a  go.  He  had  bought 
her  some  peppermints  to  kind  of  interest  her 
between  the  acks  and  hoped  all  would  be 
serene. 

28 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

What  did  she  do  the  first  thing  but  pass 
the  peppermints  to  the  woman  that  set  nex 
to  her.  The  woman  shook  her  head  and 
turned  her  face  away;  but  Mandy  says, 
"Yes,  take  some.  I  got  a  plenty.  It's  my 
birthday  and  I've  got  as  many  peppermints 
as  I  am  old." 

Then  the  woman  took  one  and  Jim  thinks 
it  reminded  her  of  something  sad  in  her 
past  life,  because  she  hid  her  face  in  her 
hands  and  shook  as  if  she  was  crying,  and 
so  did  the  woman  with  her.  Mandy 
thought  the  ushers  little  boys  hunting  round 
for  a  seat,  and  because  they  was  polite 
enough  to  wait  for  older  people  to  pass  in, 
there  wasn't  none  left  for  them.  So  she 
made  room  for  2  or  3  to  set  beside  her  and 
told  them  to  set  there.  "Come  along, 
sonny,"  she  said  to  one  of  them.  "They  is 
room  aplenty  along  of  me." 

He  almost  died  alaughing. 

There  was  a  balled-headed  man  set  in 
front  of  them  and  bymeby  a  mosquito  come 
29 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

and  lit  on  his  head.  It  was  quite  conspicu 
ous  on  account  of  his  head  being  bare,  and 
when  Mandy  seen  it  she  wanted  to  slap 
her  hand  hard  on  his  head  and  kill  it.  But 
her  hands  was  sticky  from  the  peppermints 
so  she  jest  blowed  on  it  with  all  her  might 
and  main.  Jim  said  she  almost  blowed  the 
man's  head  off. 

My!  if  the  man  want  mad!  He  riz 
right  up  and  faced  Jim.  Jim  tried  to  ex 
plain  and  says,  "What  my  sister  done  she 
done  with  the  freindlyest  feelings."  But  it 
wan't  no  use,  and  in  a  few  breaf  well- 
chosen  words  he  told  Jim  what  he  thought 
of  him.  Then  he  changed  his  seat  to  get 
away  from  them  and  Mandy  thought  he 
was  pleased  because  she'd  made  way  with 
the  mosquito  and  that  he'd  give  up  his  seat 
in  front  of  her  so  to  give  her  a  better  view 
of  the  stage.  So  she  follered  him  right 
over  and  thanked  him  which  made  the  man 
madder  than  before,  especially  as  consid 
erable  many  people  laughed.  Jim  says  the 

30 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

whole  eppisode  was  painful  in  the  extreme. 

Well,  Mandy  cut  up  ridicklous  all 
through.  She  rubbered  and  passed  re 
marks  about  the  people  out  loud.  Jim 
thought  he  would  go  right  down  through 
the  floor  and  welcome.  At  last  one  of  the 
actors  on  the  stage  asked  a  conundrum 
that  she  knew  the  answer  to  and  she  riz 
right  up  and  blarted  out  the  answer  before 
everybody.  All  the  congregation  laughed 
and  Jim  says,  "Come,  Mandy,  I  guess  we've 
got  our  money's  worth ;"  and  he  led  the  way 
out,  him  and  Mandy  the  sinecure  of  all 
eyes. 

He  didn't  say  nothing  after  they  got  out 
— he  was  too  mad.  And  all  the  way  home 
she  talked  about  the  beautiful  ladies  and 
their  close,  and  the  funny  business,  not  real 
izing  hers  was  the  funniest  of  all.  Well, 
Jim's  anger  cooled  after  a  spell  and  he 
hadn't  the  heart  to  tell  her  how  things  was. 
He  says  there's  no  need  of  it  because  she 
wont  never  go  again.  He  wishes  he  had 

31 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

bought  her  a  quart  of  strawberry  ice  cream 
and  let  it  go  at  that,  or  let  her  go  at  that, 
as  you  might  say.  Strawberry  is  her  favor- 
yte  beverage. 

Mr.  Spinney  come  in  in  the  evening  and 
I  thought  he  would  die  alaughing  to  hear 
Mandy  tell  about  what  a  good  time  she  had 
and  about  her  guessing  the  conundrum.  It 
was  all  in  the  papers  nex  day,  but  no  names 
was  mentioned.  Lots  of  people  thought 
Mandy  was  hired  by  the  management  to 
amuse  the  congregation. 

Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 

Ps.  It  want  me  said  what  you  thoght 
I  said  in  my  othar  letter.  It  was  me  say 
ing  that  Bub  said  it.  I  told  about  it  to 
Mame  and  she  says  I  better  put  in  coat- 
ashun  marks  same  as  they  do  in  books. 
She  says  you  enclose  around  what  some- 
boddy  else  says  and  they  shift  off  the  re 
sponsibility  where  it  belongs.  I  dident 
32 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

know  their  mission  was  jest  that  before  anct 
I  was  tickeled  to  death  to  find  out  about 
them.  I  am  agoing  to  fix  up  my  letters 
with  them  after  this.  Of  course  I  had  al- 
wers  took  notice  they  were  sprinkeled  over 
reading  pretty  often  and  they  made  a  page 
kind  of  spotted  up  and  cheerfull  looking 
but  I  dident  sence  they  was  so  important  as 
what  they  reely  are. 

I  wisht  there  was  some  sech  thing  when 
you  are  talking  as  well  as  writing  especally 
when  its  the  names  of  books  ect.  It  would 
pervent  misunderstandings  a  good  many 
times.  Mame  was  terrible  mortifide  one 
day  when  some  one  asked  Jim  if  he  had 
read  called  back  by  Hue  Conway  and  he 
says  "No,  who  wrote  it?"  "Called  back" 
pastured  off  like  this  would  of  made  it  as 
plain  as  your  daylights.  And  it  would  be 
a  good  idea  to  have  some  way  for  a  min- 
nister  to  part  off  what  he  says  out  of  the 
Bible  from  what  he  says  out  of  his  head. 

33 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Sometimes  Sundays  in  the  sermon  we  dont 
know  where  the  profit  Ezekell  leaves  off 
and  Mr.  Oglevie  begins. 

Speaking  of  sech  things  as  punctuation 
calls  to  mind  what  Sis  said  once  to  her 
teacher  when  she  asked  her  what  peice  she 
was  agoing  to  speak  on  Friday.  "Hyphen 
to  the  ocean  by  Lord  Biron,"  says  Sis. 
What  she  meant  was  'to  the  ocean  but  the 
question  come  so  kind  of  sudden  she  an- 
cered  before  she  thought.  When  the 
teacher  corrected  her  she  cryed,  I  mean 
Sis  cryed. 


34 


X 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  calkilated  to  get  your  work  all  done 
to-day  but  something  ockurred  last  night 
that  kep  me  from  working  for  a  cupple  of 
hours.  I  might  as  well  tell  you  about  it, 
then  you  will  understand. 

Just  before  supper,  about  half  past  5, 
there  was  considdable  of  a  rumpus  going 
on  in  the  setting-room.  Sis  was  saying  over 
to  me  her  piece  that  she  is  going  to  speak 
in  school  Friday.  It  is  an  awful  pretty 
peice  and  I  am  going  to  have  it  for  my 
favrite  pome.  Sis  has  wrote  it  off  for  me 
but  I  know  it  by  heart  so  I  am  going  to 
write  it  to  you  in  this  letter.  I  want  you 
to  tell  me  if  it  aint  a  handsome  peice.  It 
seems  as  if  it  was  kind  of  wrote  for  me. 

35 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Let  me  but  find  it  in  my  heart  to  say, 
When  vagrant  wishes  beckon  me 

astray, 
This  is  my  work,  my  blessing,  not 

my  doom; 
Of  all  I  live,  I  am  the  only  one 

by  whom 
This  work  can  best  be  done,  in  the 

right  way." 

The  part  that  says  "When  vagrent  wishes 
beckon  me  a  Stray,"  makes  me  think  of 
you  when  you  wanted  me  to  go  down  into 
Maine  to  work  for  you.  Only  it  aint  reely 
polight  to  call  a  lady  "vagrent  wishes." 
It  sounds  kind  of  like  a  tramp.  But  it  has 
done  me  a  lot  of  good.  Sis  puts  in  all  the 
proppar  jesters  and  when  she  comes  to  that 
part  I  make  her  point  towards  Maine  and 
it  works  in  a  little  gography  at  the  same 
time.  You  can  see  what  a  nice  writer  she 
is.  She  writes  the  vertigo  hand  which  is 
nice  and  plain  but  not  fancy. 

Well,  I  was  sewing  and  she  was  setting 

36 


Simply  is  the  right  word,'''  says  Mame 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

alongside  of  me  reciting  and  gouging  out 
apples  for  sarce.  You  know  the  apples  is 
dretful  poor  this  fall  and  it  is  quite  of  a 
jorb  to  gouge  them  out  and  Jim  says  when 
he  seen  some  of  the  worms  which  was  quite 
sizable,  he  shouldent  wonder  if  the  serpent 
in  Eaden  took  the  interrest  he  did  in  the 
apple  because  it  was  his  former  home.  Any 
way  these  little  critters  was  his  worthy  de 
scendants,  still  ockipying  apples  and  mak 
ing  trouble  for  the  human  race.  But  he 
often  remarks  the  Eaden  apple  must  have 
been  made  into  hard  cider  before  it  could 
prodooce  the  effecks  claimed  for  it. 

Well,  I  was  going  to  say  the  young  ones 
was  playing  injun  and  was  yelling  and  ram 
paging  round  so  that  Sis  had  to  holler  her 
peice  awful  loud  or  else  I  couldent  hear 
her.  She  had  gone  nice  and  pleasant  to 
the  Boys  and  asked  them  if  they  dident 
want  to  be  good  and  peacible  injuns  same 
as  they  have  in  Maine  that  jest  makes  pretty 
baskets  and  digs  sprews  gum  offen  the  trees 

37 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

but  they  says,  "No,  we  dont"  So  then  she 
begun  to  holler  the  peace  in  my  ear.  She 
said  it  was  all  right  because  there  was  a 
peace  in  the  reading  book  about  Demos- 
sytheans  hollering  his  peaces  in  the  noise 
of  the  waves  of  the  sea  shore  to  strenthen 
his  voice.  Probably  he  wan't  a  f  ambly  man 
or  he  needent  have  went  to  the  sea  shore 
for  any  sech  purpose. 

Mame  and  Mandy  was  getting  supper 
ready  in  the  Kitchen  and  about  this  time 
there  was  quite  of  a  misundarstanding  going 
on  about  Mandy  putting  2  eggs  in  the  Flap 
jacks  when  the  rule  dident  call  for  only  i. 
Mandy  is  nachelly  heavy-handed  and  often 
has  to  be  called  down  for  jest  sech  viola 
tions,  especially  when  eggs  has  riz  to  sub 
lime  heighths  a  dozen  on  account  of  so 
many  hens  being  off  duty.  But  sometimes 
Mandy  sticks  too  close  to  the  rule  and  one 
morning  when  she  was  cooking  some  tappy 
ochre  pudding,  and  for  all  there  was  a  sight 
of  work  to  be  done,  she  squnched  right 

38 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

down  in  a  chair  by  the  stove  and  dident 
move  a  mussel  till  Mame  called  out,  "Are 
you  taking  your  night's  rest  in  advants?" 
then  she  says  "No,  I  am  simply  follering 
the  directions  of  the  book,  "Do  not  stir 
while  it  is  boiling."  "Simply  is  the  right 
word,"  says  Mame. 

Bub,  the  one  Mr.  Spinney  calls  hub-Bub, 
was  a  injun  cheef  and  had  on  a  blankit  and 
a  fether  dustar  on  his  bed  and  a  nuther  tribe 
was  fighting  against  his  when  thare  came 
a  knock  to  the  dore.  The  one  that  knocked 
told  us  in  the  coarse  of  the  evening  that  it 
was  the  last  of  a  serys  and  he  had  Put  con- 
sidderable  mane  strenth  into  it.  Well,  Sis 
opened  the  door  and  who  in  all  creation 
should  stand  there  but  our  minnistar,  Mr. 
Oglevie.  Sis  said  walk  rite  in  like  a  little 
lady  and  take  a  sete  not  notissing  that  there 
want  no  seat  for  him,  the  chares  all  being 
turned  up  for  wig  warms.  But  he  bot- 
temed  one  up  for  himself  and  set  down. 
He  is  kind  of  a  sollem  looking  man  thogh 
39 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

he  dont  mean  no  harm  in  the  world  By  it, 
and  out  clared  the  yung  ones  quicker  than 
a  wink  to  the  kitchen.  He  inquiered  if  we 
was  having  a  childrens  party.  You  see  they 
kited  round  so  quick  and  lively  they  ap 
peared  more  numerus  than  they  ackchelly 
was  which  was  unnecessary,  gracious  knows, 
for  ordinnerry  perpusses. 

I  says  "No,  its  only  Our  little  ones  but 
thay  are  quite  playfull  at  times."  "So  I 
see,"  he  says;  "children  blessen  and  briten 
the  home."  "How  menny  hav  you  got  to 
yore  house?"  says  Sis.  "Not  any,"  he  says. 
and  Sis  looked  kind  of  puzzled  like  she 
does  when  she  gets  stuck  in  a  rithmatick  ex 
ample.  Then  he  ses  kind  of  quick,  "What 
you  doing,  little  girl?"  "Gougin  out 
apples,"  she  says,  putting  the  refuge  dish 
which  had  begun  to  look  kind  of  Lively 
undar  a  chair  but  going  on  with  her  work. 
I  knew  Mame  and  Mandy  knew  he  was 
here  because  I  see  Mandy's  eye  at  the  crack 
of  the  door,  but  I  wanted  to  give  them  Time 

40 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

to  fix  themselves  up  so  I  says,  "Sis,  don't 
you  want  to  speak  your  new  peace  for  the 
ministar?"  So  she  laid  down  her  knife  and 
elapsed  her  hands  and  said  it  clear  through 
without  stopping  once.  Then  she  spoke 
"Lead  kindly  light"  that  she  had  picked  out 
of  Mother's  old  hymn  book  and  lernt  her 
self.  She  aint  a  pritty  child,  being  puny 
and  narrer  favored  like  Mother,  but  she 
looked  so  carm  and  sweet  and  she  spoke 
so  correck  that  I  see  the  teres  standing  in 
his  eyes.  "She  seams  to  sence  the  meaning 
of  it,"  he  says.  "Yes,"  I  says,  "She  sences 
most  everything  there  is.  She  is  a  reel  old 
fashened  and  dependable  child  and  she  is 
the  only  one  in  the  bunch  that  can  be  trusted 
to  seed  raisons."  Then  he  talked  reel  nice 
to  her  and  told  her  she  Must  always  do 
what  is  right  for  there  is  one  that  sees  every 
thing  we  do  and  watches  all  our  commings 
in  and  all  Our  goings  out  and  nothin  is  hid 
from.  "Do  you  know  who  that  is,  little 
girl?" 

41 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Yes,  its  Mrs.  Ezry  Sawyer,"  says  Sis. 

Mrs.  Ezry  Sawyer  lives  a  little  ways  from 
us  and  is  an  awful  busy  body.  It  was  her 
that  said  to  Jim  when  Jamesy  died,  "sposen 
it  was  Sis."  But  I  knew  the  minnistar 
wan't  refurring  to  her  and  I  was  awful 
ashamed  of  Sis  for  not  knowing  what  he 
meant.  But  he  looked  reel  plessent  and 
after  he  had  clared  his  throat  and  looked 
out  of  the  winder  a  minnit  he  begun  to  tell 
things  about  his  own  child  hood.  He  sed 
as  a  little  boy  he  was  always  a  thirsting  for 
nolledge.  She  askt  me  afterwoods  what 
thirsting  for  nolledge  was  and  I  says,  "Aint 
you  ever  been  so  awful  thirsty  that  the  more 
water  and  tea  and  everrything  you  drunk 
the  thirstyer  you  was?"  "Yes,"  she  says, 
"espeshelly  after  a  salt  cod  dinnar."  Well, 
I  told  her  that  showed  it  wassent  drinks  she 
needed  for  thay  dident  squench  her  thirst 
but  it  was  something  else  and  that  some 
thing  else  was  nolledge.  I  like  to  explain 
42 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

sech  things  to  Sis,  she  always  listens  so  re- 
speckful. 

By  and  by  Mame  and  Mandy  come  into 
the  setting-room,  looking  their  best,  and 
looked  awful  surprised  to  see  company. 
Mame  give  me  the  wink  and  I  went  into 
the  kitchen.  She  had  put  on  a  red  4-in- 
hand  to  kivver  up  2  buttens  that  was  gone 
from  her  waste  and  she  looked  reel  hand 
some.  She  always  looks  her  Best  when 
there  is  company  because  then  she  is  happy. 
One  of  Jim's  pet  names  for  her  is  Misery, 
because  she  likes  company.  But  she  gen- 
rally  wants  a  week  to  prepare  for  it  so  to 
have  things  in  style.  She  would  never 
darst  to  invight  any  one  like  the  minnistar 
spontaneous  but  Providence  ordained 
otherwise.  I  went  into  the  kitchen  and 
tackled  the  2  jorbs  of  getting  supper  ready 
and  keeping  the  young  ones  still.  It  proved 
to  be  all  one  because  to  keep  them  subdued 
I  had  to  give  them  about  all  the  supper 
43 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

there  was.  By  and  by  Mame  came  out  act 
ing  awful  worked  up  and  says,  "O  Jen! 
what  be  we  going  to  do?  Mandy  has  in- 
vighted  him  to  supper  and  he  says  he  will. 
O  why  was  Mandy  sent  to  afflick  and  tor 
ment  us?"  and  she  began  to  cry.  I  dident 
call  to  her  mind  that  Mandy  wassent  sent 
to  her,  but  she  come  to  where  Mandy  was 
when  she  married,  but  I  says,  "Now  don't 
you  cry  and  get  your  eyes  all  redded  up. 
I'll  fix  it  all  right.  The  children  has  been 
to  supper  and  Sis  can  take  them  to  bed  so 
they  wont  trouble  us  at  the  table." 

"Oh!"  she  says;  "if  they  have  been  to 
suppar  there  wont  be  nothing  left  on  the 
table."  And  she  begun  to  cry  all  over 
again.  "Besides,"  she  says,  "this  is  pay 
night  and  how  do  we  know  what  shape  Jim 
is  coming  home  in?"  "Now  don't  you 
worry  about  that  nor  nothing  else,"  I  says. 
"I  will  let  you  know  when  suppar  is  ready. 
Go  quick  into  the  setting-room.  Who 
knows  what  foolishness  Mandy  is  getting- 

44 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

off   in   there?     It   appears   to   me   that   is 
where  your  duty  lays." 

Then  I  raced  up  stairs  and  told  all  about 
it  to  Mrs.  Hennersy  and  asked  her  to  lend 
me  some  hearty  vittles  if  she  had  any  on 
hand.  She  was  tickled  to  death  to  help 
because  I  had  never  borrered  nothing  of 
her  before  and  Ellen  also.  Ellen  was  set 
ting  by  the  winder  in  the  twylight  looking 
white  and  lonesome  and  like  the  shadder 
of  death  was  over  her,  but  you  had  ought 
to  see  how  she  spryed  round  soon  as  she 
saw  we  needed  help.  She  follered  me 
down  stairs  with  an  azalium  plant  in  her 
arms  that  Dinny  had  give  her  on  her  berth- 
day,  and  was  her  most  precious  objeck  in 
the  world  and  put  it  on  the  middle  of  the 
supper  table.  Then  she  put  a  screen  in 
front  of  the  cooking-stove  that  had  roses 
and  cubebs  painted  on  it.  After  that,  while 
the  pop  overs  was  baking  she  run  up  stairs 
and  fetched  down  three  big  pictures  to 
hang  on  the  wall  to  kivver  up  some  bad- 
45 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

looking  spots.  One  was  a  beautiful  basket 
of  fruit  of  all  kinds,  and  another  was  called 
Venus  rising  from  the  sea.  This  one  had 
been  give  to  Mrs.  Hennersy  by  a  diseased 
freind  and  she  thought  the  world  of  it.  But 
Venus  was  clothed  kind  of  scanty  for  this 
climate  so  she  had  cut  out  a  costoom  out 
of  a  fashion  plate  and  pasted  it  on  her  rigger 
so  nice,  and  neat  that  it  looked  like  it  had 
always  been  there.  The  muff  in  her  hand 
looked  as  natural  as  life.  I  remember 
Dinny  framed  it  up  for  her  again  after  she 
had  rectified  it. 

The  third  picture  was  jest  Saint  Patrick 
holding  the  handle  of  an  umbreller.  I 
hung  this  up  behind  where  the  minnistar 
was  to  set  if  all  went  well. 

It  done  me  good  to  watch  Ellen  while 
she  was  rassling  round.  I  never  see  her  so 
bright  and  excited.  She  was  up  on  a  box 
that  was  atop  of  a  chair  twining  her  ivorys 
round  one  of  the  winders  when  Jim  come 
in.  We  saw  to  once  that  he  was  all  right 


She  fullered  me  dozvn  stairs  with  an  azalium  plant  in  her  arms  that 
Dinny  bad  give  her  on  her  berth  day 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

but  he  himself  seemed  to  be  the  only  one 
to  doubt  it.  He  looked  round  the  room 
and  says,  "Where  be  I?  I  vow  I  aint  been 
taking  anything  but  this  don't  appear  to 
be  my  house."  When  he  caught  sight  of 
Ellen  he  says,  "And  a  beautiful  angel  up 
in  the  air  throwed  in." 

I  told  him  to  quit  fooling  and  to  buck 
in  and  help,  telling  him  in  a  few  words, 
what  was  going  forrard.  He  washed  up 
at  the  sink  and  was  combing  his  hair  when 
he  spied  the  picture  of  Saint  Patrick. 
"Look  here,  Jen,"  he  says,  "do  you  see  any 
thing  at  the  bottom  of  that  picture?" 

"Nothing  but  a  few  snaiks.  Why  do  you 
ask?" 

"O,  nothing!"  he  says;  "I  just  thought  I 
would  ask." 

Course  he  noticed  the  change  in  Ellen 
and  says,  "How  do  you  do,  Miss  Hennersy; 
when  did  you  get  back  among  us?"  Then 
she  sarced  him  back  and  seemed  just  like 
old  times.  She  was  putting  an  azalium 

47 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

flower  into  his  button  hole  when  the  doo\ 
opened  and  in  walked  Mr.  Spinney.  He 
loked  awful  thin  and  tired  but  brightened 
up  when  he  saw  her.  "I  wish  something 
like  that  would  happen  to  me,"  he  says. 

I  invighted  him  to  stay  to  supper  but  he 
says,  "No  I  can't;  but  it  smells  and  it  looks 
awful  good."  And  he  went  off  up  them  2 
flights  of  stairs  to  his  lonely  room,  with  no 
chearful  voice  to  greet  him  or  smooth  his 
burning  brow,  and  like  as  not  the  thermon- 
neter  somewheres  round  38  or  40. 

When  everything  was  ready  Ellen  gave 
me  a  hug  and  wished  me  good  luck  and 
skipt  up  her  one  flight  of  stair.s.  I  says, 
"Jim,  do  you  suppose  there  will  ever  be  any 
thing  between  them  two?" 

"Nothing,"  he  says,  "but  a  floor  same 
as  there  is  now."  But  I  wan't  thinking  of 
arkitexcher. 

I  was  awful  proud  when  I  went  to  the 
setting-room  door  and  says,  "Please  walk 
out  to  supper."  We  had  steak,  fryed  po- 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

taters,  hot  pop  overs,  apple  sarce,  dough 
nuts  and  ice-cream.  Jim  had  gone  out  and 
bought  the  ice-cream.  It  was  scented  with 
vaniller. 

Mame  looked  handsome  enough  at  the 
head  of  the  table  in  Mrs.  Hennersy's  best 
chair.  She  was  bright  and  happy  and  en 
tertaining.  So  was  Jim  when  he  told  funy 
storys  about  the  folks  down  to  Chictooset 
where  we  used  to  live.  I  thought  the  min- 
nister  would  die  a  laughing.  He  liked  the 
vittles,  too,  and  he  told  some  interesting 
anticdotes  about  his  collidge  days.  Some 
thing  was  said  about  the  children  and  he 
said  he  would  like  to  see  them  agane.  "No 
time  like  the  pressant,"  says  Jim;  and  what 
did  he  do  but  take  a  lamp  and  lead  the  way 
to  where  they  was  asleep.  He  says,  "The 
only  time  they  are  still  enough  for  any  one 
to  have  a  good  look  at  them  is  when  they 
have  forgot  their  miseries  in  sleep." 

They  all  looked  hearty  and  rosy,  but  I 
have  seen  cleaner  faces  than  they  pro- 
49 


dooced,  because  they  had  been  put  to  bed 
in  sech  haste.  It  was  no  secret  what  Bub 
had  had  for  supper  because  there  was  a 
wreath  of  flap-jack  crumbs  and  molasses 
round  his  mouth  where  his  tongue  couldent 
reach.  The  minnister  says  as  he  looked  at 
the  littlest  one,  "This  is  a  beautiful  child, 
is  he  the  baby?" 

"Yes,  the  baby  pro  tern,"  says  Jim.  "You 
see  what  an  expressible  face  he  has.  I  often 
see  him  with  his  sole  in  his  eyes,"  tendarly 
extracting  his  foot  from  behind  Gussy's  ear. 

"You  had  ought  to  be  a  very  happy  man, 
Mr.  Allen,"  says  the  minnister. 

"So  I  be,"  responds  Jim,  "more  than  you 
can  tell.  You  don't  know  what  it  means  to 
have  them  all  asleep." 

When  Mr.  Oglevie  went  away  he  shook 
hands  all  round  and  says,  "Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Allen  I  ain't  had  sech  a  plessant  visit  in  a 
long  time."  When  he  come  to  Mandy  he 
says,  "I  am  cheafly  indetted  to  you,  Miss 
Allen,  for  the  playsure,  and  I  thank  you." 

50 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Nobody  had  ever  called  her  Miss  Allen 
before  and  she  was  awful  pleased  about  it. 
This  is  why  I  dident  get  your  sewing 
done  as  soon  as  I  calkilated. 
Your  true  friend, 

Jennie  Allen. 

Mame  says  he  talked  lovely  to  her  about 
Jamesy  and  it  done  her  a  lot  of  good. 


XI 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

Yesterday  Mrs.  Ezry  Sawyer  come  in 
rigged  up  equal  to  the  queen  of  Sheby  and 
she  would  of  looked  awful  nice  if  it  wan't 
for  her  face  which  is  hombly  in  the  ex- 
tream.  The  dots  on  her  new  veil  wasn't 
large  enough  or  close  enough  together  to 
conceal  this  painful  fack,  although  one  of 
them  artfully  kivvered  a  good  sized  mould. 
She  had  on  a  plum-colored  velvet  gownd 
that  we'd  seen  in  Clapp  &  palmer's  window 
a  couple  of  days  before.  The  figger  that 
had  it  on  in  the  winder  hadn't  ever  wore 
anything  but  good  close;  and  you  would 
know  it  to  look  at  it,  it  looked  so  carm  & 
peaceful;  but  Mrs.  Sawyer  kep  ayanking 
herself  round  as  if  she  couldn't  forget  she 
was  rigged  up  to  an  uncommon  degree. 
52 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

She  is  awful  thin  and  long-favored  and 
has  got  a  funny  jaw  and  little  bits  of  eyes. 

One  night  last  winter  when  she  was  com 
ing  home  late,  she  heard  a  man  follering 
behind  her.  She  was  awful  scared  and 
hastened  her  steps  but  he  hastened  his,  too, 
and  bymeby  he  says,  "Wouldn't  you  like 
company  home?" 

Then  she  turned  round  and  faced  him 
and  said,  "Young  man,  aint  you  ashamed 
of  yourself?" 

He  took  one  look  at  her  and  says,  "Yes, 
I  be,"  and  run  off  quick  as  he  could  in  the 
other  direction.  When  she  tells  the  story 
she  says  it  shows  the  power  of  the  human 
eye. 

She  had  everything  on  in  proportion  to 
the  plum-colored  gown.  There  was  white 
plumes  on  her  hat  rigged  up  so  high  she 
had  to  scooch  to  come  in  the  door,  and  a 
cock  tail  on  the  side.  Around  her  neck 
was  a  long  gold  chain  with  ammythiss 
every  little  while,  and  on  the  end  was  a 

53 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

gold  lordgenetty.  Mame  said  after  she  had 
gone  that  if  she  had  darsted  to  look  at  her 
through  that  foolish  implement  she  would 
have  drove  her  out-doors. 

We  see  she  was  dretful  excited  about 
something  and  so  I  wasn't  surprised  when 
she  drawed  her  chair  clost  up  to  mine 
where  I  set  sewing  and  says,  "Jennie,  I  got 
something  awful  important  to  talk  over 
with  you.  You  have  done  a  good  many 
kind  turns  for  me  in  the  years  our  ways  has 
led  together  in  the  past  and  now  I  have  got 
a  chanst  to  pay  you  back  in  overflowing 


measure." 


Then  she  went  on  to  tell  how  her  son  Ben 
that  lives  clear  out  to  Seattle,  state  of  Wash 
ington,  had  made  some  good  investerments 
in  land  and  these  good  close  was  among 
the  producks  of  his  success. 

"I  have  wore  them  in,  Jennie,  for  a  kind 
of  an  objeck  lesson  because  I  want  you  to 
make  some  money  like  he  did."  She 
54 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

showed  me  a  letter  he  had  wrote  and  in  it 
he  said  he  had  made  5  thousand  $  in  6 
months  buying  and  selling  opshens.  He 
wound  up  by  saying,  "Send  on  all  the  spare 
cash  you  can  rake  up,  Mother,  and  I  can 
double  it  or  tribble  it  in  a  month  and  maybe 
longer." 

Then  she  told  me  she  had  took  all  her 
money  out  of  the  bank  and  was  in  the  ack 
of  sending  it  to  him;  "only,"  she  says,  "I 
thought  I  would  come  and  get  yours  to  put 
along  of  it,  because  you  can  see  buying  and 
selling  opshens  is  the  most  prophetable  busi 
ness  there  is." 

Now  I  have  got  most  75  dollars  but  I 
still  call  it  Jamesy's  and  I  have  got  plans 
laid  out  for  that.  But  I  says,  "Why  don't 
he  send  the  opshens  on  by  express  and  let 
us  sell  them  for  what  we  can  get  for  them 
here?" 

She  busted  right  out  alaughing  at  this  and 
says,  "You  big  goose,  Jennie  Allen!  opshens 

55 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

aint  anything  that  can  be  expressed."  And 
I  found  they  wasn't  when  she  tried  to  ex 
plain  about  them. 

"Well,"  I  says,  "I  don't  want  to  say  any 
thing  against  Ben,  the  best-hearted  feller 
ever  lived,  but  after  the  way  you've  ex 
plained  it  I  don't  see  how  it  is  any  differ 
ent  from  gambling.  As  I  look  at  it  if  you 
are  foolish  enough  to  spend  your  money 
that  way  your  only  hope  is  to  find  some 
body  still  more  foolish  that  cackleates  to 
find  a  bigger  fool  still,  and  everybody  has 
got  to  look  out  not  to  be  the  last  one. 

"There  is  plenty  of  these  last  ones  left 
over  from  the  last  boom,"  I  says. 

"  Then,"  I  says,  "you  say  that  what  has 
made  reel  estate  go  kiting  up  so  like  all  pos 
sessed  is  on  account  of  them  two  capitalists 
that  is  mad  with  each  other  wanting  to  buy 
the  tidelands  to  keep  each  other  out.  Now 
aint  that  a  worthy  foundation  to  build  a 
fortune  on!" 

How  much  better  it  would  be  if  their 

56 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

minister,  or  some  other  person,  would  go  to 
one  of  them  and  say,  "Now,  James,  aint 

you     and     Mr.     H quarreled     long 

enough?  And  dont  you  want  to  make  up 
with  him  now  and  shake  hands?  Remem 
ber  there  is  another  world  where  there  is 
no  tidelands  and  no  opshens."  Besides, 
look  at  the  O'Lympics!  In  the  presence  of 
sech  big  and  glorious  mountains  with  their 
summits  lost  in  the  mistery  of  the  clouds 
how  can  you  have  thoughts  that  is  mean 
and  petty?  And  as  for  Mount  Rainier 
(which  Ben  says  they  can  see  several  times 
a  year  when  the  fog  lifts)  I  should  think 
when  the  mists  do  clare  away  you  couldn't 
help  saying,  "Look  here!  I  don't  want  no 
tidelands.  I'm  going  up  on  the  heighths." 
Then  the  other  man  wouldn't  want  any 
tidelands  and  there  wouldn't  be  no  boom, 
and  no  gambling. 

Most  of  the  trouble  in  this  world  comes 
from  folks  wanting  the  same  thing 
[(whether  it's  masculine,  femmynme,  or 

57 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

newter)  when  they  could  get  other  things 
jest  as  good  or  better.  If  society  could  be 
made  to  rest  on  a  Jack  Spratt  and  his  wife 
basiss  how  much  happier  everybody  would 
be.  Now  I  have  always  inclined  to  the  no 
tion  that  Mrs.  Spratt  liked  lean  meat  jest 
as  well  as  anybody  else ;  but  when  she  found 
(soon  after  her  marriage,  probbably)  that 
her  husband  was  extry  partial  to  it,  in  order 
to  preserve  harmony  she  started  right  in  to 
cultivate  a  taste  for  fat.  On  this  account 
I  have  always  looked  on  her  as  the  model 
wife. 

Seeing  she  couldn't  defend  the  scarce  of 
the  money,  Mrs.  Sawyer  tried  to  temp  me 
(only  for  my  own  sake — she  had  nothing  to 
gain)  by  telling  what  I  could  do  with  it. 
She  said  I  was  flying  in  the  face  of  Provi 
dence  not  to  take  this  chanst.  "Wouldn't 
you  like,"  she  asked,  "to  have  Sis  take  les 
sons  on  the  pianner?  And  wouldn't  you 
like  to  have  anybody  as  handsome  as  Mame 
wearing  beautiful  close?" 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

For  a  minute  I  thought  how  splendid 
Mame  would  look  in  the  purple  velvet 
gownd  and  the  big  white  plumes,  and  how 
proud  Jim  would  be  of  her.  Then  I  called 
to  mind  he  couldn't  be  more  proud  of  her 
than  he  was  already  and  as  for  Sis  she 
could  pick  out  quite  a  lot  of  tunes  on  the 
organ  by  ear  and  that's  enough  for  the  pres- 
sant. 

"And  you  could  all  go  down  to  Chictoo- 
set  nex  spring  same  as  you've  always  wanted 
to.  It  don't  look  as  if  the  children  would 
ever  see  the  old  place." 

This  was  the  strongest  argument  of  all 
but  I  only  says,  "I  always  hope  they  will 
and  I  am  going  to  keep  on  hoping;  but  the 
money  must  come  some  other  way." 

Jest  then  Bub  who  was  leaning  against 
my  chair  and  listening  says,  "I  want  to  go 
down  to  Chictooset  now,  Aunt  Jennie,  and 
see  the  place  where  Father  caught  the  torn- 
cods  and  where  he  most  got  drownded." 

"There!"  says  Mrs.  Sawyer;  "out  of  the 

59 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  you  have  a 
direck  call.  A  little  child  shall  lead 
them." 

"Go  right  out  to  play,  Bub,"  I  says,  "and 
some  time  we  will  all  go  to  Chictooset." 

He  begged  to  stay  and  watch  the  strings 
in  the  lady's  neck  pull  up  and  down  when 
she  talked,  but  I  made  him  go.  At  last  she 
found  it  wan't  no  use  to  argew  and  so  she 
left  but  with  the  intentions  of  renewing  the 
onslaught.  I  am  reel  sorry  she  is  disap 
pointed  becaus  she  was  trying  to  do  me  a 
kind  turn  and  I  hope  she  wont  lose  her  little 
all  she  is  taking  out  of  the  bank. 

I  don't  know  as  I  have  told  you  that  some 
of  them  tidelands  they  are  so  fierce  to  get 
aholt  of  has  10  feet  of  water  on  them  at 
high  tide  and  Ben  has  ben  swimming  on 
one  lot  that  cost  thousands  of  $.  I  didn't 
know  they  put  sech  a  high  vallew  on  cold 
water  in  the  west. 

Jim  saw  Mrs.  Sawyer  when  she  was  go 
ing  out  and  he  says,  "Whence  comes  that  ra- 
60 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

diant  vision?  and  why  wan't  I  warned  of  it 
so  I  could  put  on  my  smoked  glasses?" 

But  when  I  told  him  the  gorgous  rai 
ment  was  put  on  to  help  a  kind  and  freindly 
mission  he  didn't  say  nothing  more.  I 
didn't  tell  Jim  what  the  freindly  mission 
was  for  fear  he  would  yield  to  the  opshen 
temptation.  To  be  sure  he  hasn't  got  much 
money  but  there  aint  any  one  knows  him 
but  would  lend  him  in  a  minute  and  it  aint 
safe  to  be  so  trusted  as  that.  Nothing  is 
much  more  dangersome  than  unlimited 
credit.  It  aint  pleassant  to  be  looked  upon 
with  distruss  but  it  shuts  off  opportunitys 
to  go  wrong.  Jim  aint  got  that  safeguard 
so  I  am  going  to  proteck  him  all  I  can. 

I  will  let  you  know  how  her  venture  ex 
terminates  as  soon  as  she  finds  out. 
Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


61 


XII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

You  ask  me  to  tell  you  about  the  trades 
pickanick  and  I  will.  I  want  there  myself 
because  I  had  an  order  for  rappars  sent  in 
the  night  before.  They  had  a  splendid  time 
and  so  much  happened  they  aint  hardly  got 
through  with  the  narrowation  of  it  yet.  Sis 
said  it  was  a  Scarlet  lettar  day,  when  she 
meant  red  lettar.  When  they  started  out 
Mame  said  her  and  Jim  would  walk  ahead 
and  Sis  and  Mandy  and  the  boys  could 
foller  behind  at  a  Respecktable  distants,  on 
account  of  it  not  being  Genteel  to  have  sech 
a  large  fambly  of  little  ones.  They  made 
a  splendid  looking  cupple.  She  woar  her 
new  sute  and  her  lingering  hat  that  she  has 
wore  most  4  years  but  she  washed  it  and 
done  it  up  and  it  looked  as  good  as  new  and 
62 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

he  had  on  the  dress  sute  I  told  you  about. 
A  lady  where  I  went  to  take  home  some 
work  was  going  to  send  it  to  the  second 
hand  shop  with  othar  close,  when  I  said  I 
would  perchess  it  for  my  Brothar.  Mame 
alwers  wanted  Jim  to  have  one  and  this  was 
awfull  reasonable.  The  lady  dident  want 
to  tack  a  cent  for  it  but  I  told  her  I  dident 
want  it  without  she  charged  me  jest  what 
she  would  the  second  hand  man.  (Mr. 
Spinney  asked  me  how  I  knew  he  was  a 
widower.)  Jim  jest  put  on  the  coat  for  the 
pickanick  and  woar  golf  trousers  with  it 
because  he  knew  he  would  have  to  fool 
more  or  less  round  the  water  with  the  little 
boys  and  golf  trousers  would  be  the  best 
for  that.  He  woar  a  nice  loose  outing 
shirt,  white  with  pink  dots,  and  his  tie 
was  a  nice  chearful  green.  Altogethar, 
I  tell  you  we  felt  pretty  proud  of  him.  He 
is  tall  and  big  and  when  he  straitens  up  he 
looks  jest  like  a  Poleeceman.  Well,  him 
and  Mame  started  off  togather  to  walk  to 

63 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

where  they  took  the  barges,  and  I  had  a 
Struggle  trying  to  keep  the  children  back 
till  they  had  a  good  start.    They  squirmed 
pretty  good  and  when  I  let  them  loose  it 
was  all  Sis  and  Mandy  could  do  to  keep 
them  to  the  proppar  pace.     It  want  very 
long  befoar  Mame  happened  to  look  be 
hind  and  see  the  Baby  crying  to  take  aholt 
of   mother's    hand.     Her   tendar  woman's 
hart  couldent  stand  it.    She  waited  for  them 
to  ketch  up  and  grabbed  the  little  fellar  up, 
saying,  "Mother's  precious  baby!  was  they 
trying    to    keep    him    away    from    her? 
Naughty,  naughty  sister."    Women  are  on- 
reasonable  at  times  and  I  guess  Sis  thinks 
so,  too.     Mame  forgot  to  be  genteel  and 
told  Jim  he  had  got  to  carry  Baby.    Then 
they'Went  alont,  the  othar  young  ones  danc 
ing    and    capering    round    them.     Folks 
smiled  as  they  met  them,  but  they  didn't 
care.     The  way  Jim  was  dressed  kind  of 
added  dignity  and  sobriarty  to  the  whole 

64 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

proceeding.    Mandy    &    Sis    carried    the 
lunch  basket  between  them. 

They  had  expeckted  Mr  Spinney  to  be  a 
membar  of  the  party,  but  he  wan't  able  to 
go.  When  they  was  ready  to  start  out  he 
come  down  all  dressed  up  ready  to  go. 
When  he  saw  Jim's  new  close  he  smiled 
with  pleasure  and  was  going  to  say  some 
thing.  Then  he  sobered  down.  I  know 
why.  He  was  thinking  why  he  hadent  ever 
been  abel  to  perchess  a  dress  sute.  "All 
aboard!"  he  says,  and  grabs  the  pickanick 
basket  with  one  hand  and  Bub  with  the 
othar.  When  he  saw  me  setting  down  to 
the  machine  bare  headed  he  wanted  to 
know  what  was  up.  I  told  him  rappars, 
and  as  he  stood  there  he  claped  his  hands 
to  his  head  as  if  in  violent  pain.  Then  he 
says  he  dassent  go  on  account  of  a  dull  pain 
between  the  eyes  passing  round  his  temple,' 
kind  of  looping  the  loop  and  fetching  up 
behind  the  back  of  his  ears,  as  well  as  he 
could  describe  it. 

65 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Jim  told  him  the  fresh  air  was  jest  the 
thing  for  that  particklar  kind  of  a  head  aik. 
But  he  said  no,  fresh  air  alwers  seamed  to 
aggravate  and  intencerfy  that  special  brand. 
So  they  went  off  without  him.  It  made  me 
feel  awful  bad  for  him  to  lose  all  that  fun 
and  pleasure  and  I  beged  him  not  to  stay 
home.  But  he  said  he  was  ackchelly  onfit 
for  the  exertion.  "In  fack,"  he  says,  "it 
would  be  an  exertion  for  me  to  clime  them 
stairs;  so  if  you  don't  mind,  I'll  lay  right 
on  this  lounge  a  spell." 

Of  course  he  was  wellcome  and  I  told 
him  so.  He  laid  down  and  I  took  up  my 
sowing,  after  I  had  give  him  a  shawl  to 
wrap  round  him.  "I  don't  want  no  shawl," 
he  says.  "My  room  was  so  hot  last  night 
that  if  I  had  died  I  wouldent  have  noticed 
any  differance." 

By  and  by  he  give  a  grown  and  I  says, 
"Aint  there  nothing  I  can  do?" 

"Well,"  he  says,  "when  I  used  to  have 
this  kind  to  home  the  only  thing  that  would 
66 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

releave  them  would  be  Mother  rubbing  my 
head." 

"I  wisht  she  was  here  to  do  it  now,"  I 
told  him;  "but  Mrs.  Hennersy  is  fine  in 
sickness  and  maybe  she'll  do  it,"  and  I  riz 
up  to  call  her. 

"No,  no!  I  couldent  stand  the  confusion 
of  another  person  round.  Couldent  you  do 
it  for  a  minnit  or  two,  Jen?" 

So  I  set  by  him  and  rubbed  my  hand 
gently  acrost  his  head  back  and  forth  till 
he  got  kind  of  drowsy  and  dropped  off  to 
sleep.  Jest  as  he  droped  off  he  murmared 
"Mother!"  and  I  guess  he  thought  it  was 
his  mother  because  as  I  riz  up  and  was  about 
to  leave  him  he  says  kind  of  sleepy,  "Don't 
go,  Mother,"  and  took  aholt  of  my  hand  to 
keap  me  with  him.  So  I  stayed  there  and 
passed  my  hand  soothing  acrost  his  brow. 
As  I  looked  down  on  his  face  it  struck  me 
how  many  tired  lines  had  come  there  lately. 
They  dident  show  when  he  was  awake  and 
carrying  on  but  there  they  was.  And  I 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

knew  that  every  line  was  a  good  line.  Not 
one  had  been  writ  there  by  dizzypation. 
He  had  worked  hard  all  his  life  and  had 
nothing  to  show  for  it.  He  shed  cheer 
about  him  wherever  he  went,  but  folks  was 
unconscious  that  it  radiatored  from  him. 
It  aint  an  easy  jorb  to  be  an  insurance  agent 
and  poke  yourself  into  shops  and  offisses 
where  you  aint  wanted  and  take  sass  and 
sometimes  hinted  you  had  bettar  leave. 
Many's  the  time  he  has  persuaded  men  to 
take  out  a  Pollissy  agenst  their  will  and  they 
have  left  their  f amblys  well  fixed  on  account 
of  it.  Widders  has  come  to  bless  him  for 
what  he  has  done.  One  of  them  sent  him  a 
fansy  little  pen  wipar  only  last  Christmas 
because  through  his  percyverence  &  powars 
of  inducement  she  had  got  some  thousend 
dollers.  And  his  sins  of  commission  is  very 
few,  if  any. 

As  I  was  thinking  of  all  this,  looking 
down  on  him  and  smoothing  his  brow,  I 
forgot  all  about  my  rappars  that  had  to 
68 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

be  took  back  to-morrow.  When  they  did 
come  to  me  with  resounding  foarce,  I  tried 
to  rize  up  again  but  again  he  murmared 
"Mother,"  and  clung  to  my  hand.  I 
couldn't  leave  him  then.  And  it  was  some 
time  before  he  stirred  and  then  opaned  his 
eyes.  I  felt  awfull  foolish  and  went  and 
set  right  down  to  the  machine. 

He  follers  me  and  says,  seeing  I  have 
lost  so  much  preshus  time  on  his  account, 
that  he  was  going  to  help  me  sew  on  the 
machine.  Se  he  sowed  while  I  baisted  and 
he  sung  funny  songs  to  the  companyment 
of  the  buzzing  of  the  wheels.  He  is  splen 
did  compenny. 

By  and  by  we  finds  out  he  had  been 
sowing  yards  and  yards  after  the  bobbing 
was  out,  so  the  seams  wa'n't  sowed  at  all. 
We  have  a  good  laugh  at  that  and  then  he 
says  kind  of  serious,  "Jen,  a  man  sozzling 
along  without  a  wife  is  like  sowing  without 
no  under  thread.  It  might  jest  as  well  not 
be  done  at  all."  And  it  made  me  wish 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Ellen  would  be  kinder  to  him.  I  told  him 
so  and  said  I  hoped  he  wouldent  get  dis- 
curriged. 

When  dinner-time  comes  he  says  he  is 
going  to  prepair  our  midday  feast  and  he 
flew  around  asetting  the  table.  I  told  him 
there  was  nothing  to  eat  in  the  house.  Then 
he  went  for  the  woman's  collum  in  the 
Journal,  to  see  if  he  couldent  use  up  some 
left  ovars,  making  a  dainty  and  palpable 
dish.  "Them  reseats,"  I  says,  "was  made 
up  by  some  body  in  a  boyless  household. 
We  don't  have  no  left  ovars  here.  Further 
more  than  that,  the  dishes  is  cleaned  out  so 
thorough  at  the  table  that  washing  them  is 
like  gilding  refigned  gold." 

He  was  gone  befoar  I  got  through  speak 
ing,  but  soon  returned  from  the  Bakery 
where  he  had  bought  all  kinds  of  beautiful 
eatables.  They  tasted  awfull  good.  I  had- 
ent  ewer  et  a  sharlot  roosh  befoar.  They 
are  10  cents  &  not  much  to  them.  We  was 
both  hungry  and  done  justiss  (without 
70 


** 


if 


Jen,  a  man  sozzling  along  without  wife  is  like  sowing  without  no 
under  thread.      It  might  jest  as  well  not  be  done  at  all" 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

mercy)  to  all  the  lovely  vittles.  Then  He 
put  on  my  big  apern  and  said  he  was  going 
to  wash  all  the  dishes  and  he  done  it,  caper 
ing  round,  and  cutting  up  and  making  be- 
leave  he  was  this,  that  and  the  othar  person 
and  he  acted  them  all  out  perfeck. 

It  wan't  no  wonder  in  the  excitement  he 
dropped  one  of  the  cups  and  I  was  sorry 
to  hear  him  say  "the  devil!"  when  he 
picked  it  up  and  saw  a  little  piece  gone  out 
of  it. 

"Please  don't  swear,"  I  says,  "that  piece 
has  ben  gone  this  long  time." 

"That's  what  I  said— the  old  Nick." 

When  he  had  to  leave  and  go  off  on  some 
business,  the  house  seamed  awfull  lonesome 
without  the  folks.  I  was  glad  enough  to 
see  them  when  they  come  and  they  all  said 
they  had  a  splendid  time.  I  asked  if  the 
children  had  been  good.  "Course  not," 
says  Jim;  "how  could  they  have  a  good  time 
if  they  was  good?  They  acted  like  the  old 
scratch,  every  durned  one  of  em." 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

When  Mr.  Spinney  come  in  to  hear  about 
the  pickanick  Jim  asked  him  what  he  had 
done  for  his  head  aik.  "Nothing  to  speak 
of,"  says  Mr.  Spinney. 

So  no  more  at  pressant  from 
Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


72 


XIII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  f  reind, 

I  am  writing  to  say  that  My  last  letter 
must  of  been  a  sight  on  the  outside.  I  sent 
Bub  out  to  male  it  and  when  he  came  rush 
ing  back  his  hands  was  full  of  graip  and 
benanner  skins  and  he  looked  awful  happy 
and  red  in  the  face.  "I  guess,"  he  says, 
"there  wont  be  no  moar  axidents  from  old 
folks  slipping  down  from  here  clear  up  to 
Bennett's  corner.  I  been  collecting  all  the 
pealings  that  was  dropped  and  here  they 
are!"  chucking  them  into  the  coal  hod  that 
was  setting  side  of  the  stove  beaming  round 
on  us  all. 

"Look  here!"  says  Mame;  and  she  went 
for  him  pretty  lively  about  him  getting  his 
hands  dirtyed  up  clawring  round  in  the 
guttar.  I  dident  say  nothing  but  I  thought 

73 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

it  was  a  noble  deed  to  remove  fruit  pealings 
and  sech  from  under  the  tottering  steps  of 
age  that  aint  got  but  a  few  more  totters  to 
the  grave.  Folks  aint  any  right  to  go  along 
eating  and  dropping  their  skins  on  the  side 
walk.  Bub  saw  an  old  man  slip  down  on 
one  of  them  last  weak  and  that  was  what 
put  them  into  his  head.  He  was  put  into 
the  ambulants  and  took  to  the  horspittle. 
Bub  says  he  knows  he  was  poor  because  his 
toes  was  out  and  he  give  him  his  10  cents. 
Most  probably  he  wasent  extry  familier 
with  the  insides  of  benanners  or  orranges. 
At  sech  times  it  seams  as  if  that  was  the 
way  of  the  world.  A  few  folks  enjoy  the 
fruit  and  othars  slips  down  on  the  pealings. 
No,  I  couldent  say  nothing  to  Bub  then 
but  when  I  washed  the  dirty  little  hands 
that  was  so  quick  to  run  to  othar  peoples 
help  I  done  it  with  a  kind  of  rewerence. 
How  many  sins  of  omission  we  commit  try 
ing  to  keap  our  hands  clean!  This  is  called 
to  mind  by  what  the  ministar  said  last  Sun- 

74 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

day.  He  told  us  there  was  2  kinds  of  sins, 
— sins  of  commission  or  them  we  commit, 
and  sins  of  omission  or  them  we  omit  to 
commit.  I  should  hate  to  be  gilty  of  this 
last  kind. 

I  jest  give  Bub  2  cookys  instead  of  i  and 
told  him  he  mussent  forget  he  was  going  to 
the  park  with  me  nex  Sunday  if  nothing 
happened.  "Something  has  got  to  hap 
pen,"  says  Mame,  "  or  he  can't  go.  How 
about  the  Sunday  pants  that  aint  much  more 
than  planned  Out  yet?"  Seeing  the  tears 
come  into  his  eyes  I  told  him  aunt  Jennie 
would  see  that  the  pants  fulfilled  their  part 
of  the  contrack.  That  being  the  case  I 
mussent  write  any  more  now,  because  I  have 
got  to  hurry  up  on  my  rappar  order  so  as 
to  squeeze  in  the  pants  befoar  Sunday.  It 
aint  so  easy  as  it  appears  to  the  sooperficial 
eye  to  get  two  pairs  out  of  one  of  Jim's. 
It's  a  triunth  to  do  it,  though,  especially 
when  Mr.  Spinney  says  it's  a  work  of  genius. 
And  he  says  it  every  time.  Once  I  tried 
75 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

to  coax  Jim  to  buy  two  succeeding  pairs 
of  pants  alike  because  I  felt  almost  sure  I 
could  get  five  small  pairs  out  of  two  of  his 
but  he  declined  not  to  do  it.  He  said  with 
his  love  of  variotty  and  change  of  environ 
ment  he  wan't  quite  prepared  to  make  that 
sacrifice  for  the  nex  generation.  "Unless," 
he  added,  "you  want  to  spread  yourself,  Jen, 
and  win  some  of  them  enconiams  sech  as  is 
dear  to  your  heart." 

I  do  like  the  enconiams  but  they  dont  in 
jure  the  appearance  of  Bub  and  Gussy 
which  is  the  cheaf  objeck  of  my  work. 
They  are  only  side-producks.  And  when 
there  is  a  good  side-produck,  I  say,  grab  it. 
Only  don't  let  it  come  first.  Mame  don't 
have  as  much  patience  sewing  as  she  might. 
She  says  she  has  heard  of  tailers  using  glew 
on  male  garments  instead  of  sewing  them. 
But  I  tell  her  while  that  might  be  adapted 
to  nice  sedaitable  old  gentlemen  that  jest 
sets  and  reads  their  Bibles,  or  at  most  takes 
a  pleasant  little  walk  in  the  semitary,  that 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

with  our  little  ones  that  is  more  likely  than 
not  to  frisk  around,  it  would  be  a  diffrant 
mattar.  Praps  it's  prejudiss  but  I  never 
could  have  that  settled  down  fealing  of  con- 
ferdence  in  the  most  highly  recommended 
glew  that  I  feal  in  number  40  linnen  thread. 
In  a  delliket  case  like  patching  it  might 
serve  a  good  purpose  and  I  know  my  mother 
would  have  used  it  judicious.  Mother  was 
a  splendid  patcher.  It  come  as  natural  to 
her  as  the  air  she  breathed.  Many  was 
the  times  down  to  Chictooset  when  folks 
would  say  to  a  man  or  woman  or  child 
"What  a  nice  new  coat  (or  dress)  you've 
got!"  and  they  would  say,  "It's  the  same 
one  but  Mrs.  Benjamin  Allen  has  tinkered 
it  up  for  me." 

Mother  was  not  only  daft  with  her  neadle 
but  she  had  a  brain  to  execute  and  plan. 
She  was  full  of  resources  and  original  de 
vices  a  good  deal  like  Benjamin  West  the 
artist  when  he  made  a  brush  out  of  a  cat's 
tail.  If  the  result  was  a  passel  of  nice  de- 

77 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

cent  dressed  people  that  was  so  poor  they 
otherwise  would  of  gone  round  looking  like 
distress  or  stayed  to  home  for  shame  wasn't 
that  about  as  good  as  painting  pictures  that 
has  now  pretty  much  sunk  into  oblivian  and 
wasn't  cheerful  to  look  at  before  they  sunk? 
I've  seen  his  "King  Lear  in  a  storm."  It 
is  the  saddest  picture  I  ever  set  eyes  on  and 
I  wish  I  could  forget  it.  I  know  the  story 
about  it  wa'n't  true  but  Mr.  Lamb  wouldn't 
of  made  it  up  or  people  wouldent  have  been 
so  teched  by  it  if  there  wasn't  jest  sech  cases 
in  life.  To  think  of  that  crewel  daughter 
sending  the  old  father  out  without  even  his 
crown  on  his  head.  Of  course  it  wouldn't 
have  answered  the  purpose  of  a  skull  cap 
but  fixed  on  with  elastic  it  would  have  been 
better  than  nothing  in  sech  weather  and  no 
doubt  it  was  right  handy  where  she  could 
get  at  it.  When  I  referred  about  it  Mr. 
Spinney  said  it  wasn't  Lamb  wrote  the  story 
but  I  had  got  my  meats  mixed  and  it  was 
Bacon.  I  guess  if  he  had  dusted  Lamb's 

78 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

tails  as  often  as  I  had  on  the  parler  table 
he  would  know  better.  Of  course  Jim  had 
to  but  in  and  ask  if  it  wasn't  Ham,  seeing 
he  had  plenty  of  leisure  in  the  ark.  "Didn't 
he  Noah  lot  about  it?"  he  says.  They  like 
to  jolly  me  but  I  like  their  pleasant 
ways  and  any  way  its  a  change  from  the 
noise  of  the  sewing  machine.  Sis  was  tell 
ing  the  boys  the  other  day  what  the  dead 
languages  is.  "Is  ours  one?"  inquired  Bub. 
"Course!"  says  Jim,  "Didn't  you  hear  Aunt 
Jen  murder  the  King's  English?"  I  dont 
know  what  he  meant  but  he  and  Mr.  Spin 
ney  set  up  a  shout  and  Mr.  Spinney  said  it 
was  only  a  case  of  mans-laughter.  Then 
Jim  give  me  a  hug  and  Mr.  Spinney  told 
him  to  give  me  another  and  charge  it  to 
him.  They  mean  all  right. 

No!  Mother's  patching  and  peacing  never 
brought  on  a  feeling  of  sadness.  And  Jim 
says  how  she  used  to  rejoice  in  the  rejubila- 
tion  of  an  old  garment  as  a  surgeon  does  in 
an  operation  that  gives  somebody  a  new 

79 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

leace  of  life.  There  aint  so  much  differ- 
ance  in  the  two,  either.  One  straightens 
out  your  outside  and  the  other  your  insides, 
and  in  one  way  her  work  was  greater.  If 
your  liver  and  lights  is  out  of  order  you 
can  conseal  it  from  the  criticle  public  but 
a  shabby  cloak  is  known  to  all  the  world. 
That  reminds  me  of  what  Mr.  Spinney  said 
once.  He  said  a  man  doesn't  live  so  much 
according  to  his  lights  as  according  to  his 
liver. 

Mother  done  a  lot  of  sech  work  for  peo 
ple  that  was  too  poor  to  pay  her;  but  when 
she  was  praised  for  it  she  said  she  done  it 
only  about  50  per  cent  for  charrity.  The 
rest  was  because  she  jest  naturally  loved 
sech  jorbs.  But  when  Mother  was  got 
ready  to  be  laid  away  and  them  poor  willin 
and  hard  workin  hands  was  folded  in  rest 
I  thought  it  would  be  a  mean  kind  of  a 
recordin  angel  that  wouldent  give  her  the 
whole  hundred  per  cent. 
80 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

One  day  she  was  sewing  at  Deacon  In- 
graham's  and  Mrs.  I.  fetched  into  the  set 
ting  room  a  pair  of  pants  that  the  deacon 
had  wore  a  number  of  years,  telling  her  to 
patch  them  neat  same  as  only  she  could  do. 

"Well,"  says  Mother,  "bring  along  the 
patching  peaces  and  I  will  see  what  can  be 
done."  Mrs.  Ingraham  done  so,  saying 
"Here  they  be!" 

"What!"  says  Mother,  "was  the  pants 
ever  like  them  peaces?" 

"They  certainly  was,"  says  she;  "they  are 
what  was  left  and  have  been  kep  in  a  bag 
up  attick.  There  is  a  differance  now  but 
why  dont  you  do  what  you  have  done  so 
many  times  before  and  put  the  peaces  on 
the  close  line  to  fade?" 

(Mind  you  the  peaces  was  a  dark  seal 
brown  and  the  trousers  had  faded  to  a  light 
golden  snuff  color.) 

"Mrs.  Ingraham!"  Mother  broke  out; 
"them  pants  has  been  fading  on  the  deacon 
81 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

for  nigh  on  to  ten  year  and  how  can  the 
patch  peaces  catch  up  with  them  in  half 
an  hour?  There's  reason  in  all  things." 

"Well,"  says  Mrs.  Ingraham  (kind  of 
ashamed  because  they  had  money  laid  by 
and  there  wasn't  no  call  for  her  to  skimp 
and  skew  at  the  expence  of  Mother's  brains) 
"jest  do  the  best  you  can.  He  probably 
wont  ware  them  much  more  now  excep 
choaring  round  in  the  garden.  I'm  going 
down  to  the  post  office  store." 

When  she  came  back  Mother  held  up  the 
pants  in  triunth. 

"Hannah  Allen!"  says  Mrs.  Ingraham  in 
a  joyous  tone;  "what  on  earth  have  you 
done  to  them  pants!  I  can't  see  whare  the 
patches  leave  off  and  the  pants  begin!" 

"I  scorched  the  peaces  a  little,"  says 
Mother  as  carm  as  if  she  hadent  been  doing 
something  nobody  else  in  creation  would  of 
thought  of.  And  so  fur  from  choring 
round  in  the  garden  with  them  he  wore 
them  to  church  the  next  Sabbath.  (He 

82 


Hannah  Allen  ! ' '  says  Mrs.  Ingraham  in  a  joyous  tone  ,•  ' '  what  on  earth 
have  you  done  to  them  pants  !  I  can'  t  see  whare  the  patches  leave 
of  and  the  pants  begin  ! ' ' 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

want  an  Episcolapian.)  Maybe  thare  was 
something  in  that  because  not  long  after 
that  Mother  heard  a  nabor  say  "How  feable 
old  deacon  Ingraham  is  getting.  I  notice  it 
more  in  his  gait  than  anything  else."  He 
probably  had  on  the  snuff  collered  pants. 

Jim  said  that  after  the  process  they'd  ben 
through  they  must  of  ben  better  adaptuated 
for  that  than  anything  else.  It's  true  he 
didn't  darst  to  make  any  quick  or  sudden 
motion  in  walking  or  anything  else.  He 
had  to  go  quite  cautious  remembering  al 
ways  what  he  was  wearing  and  governed 
himself  accordingly.  But  what  you  gain  in 
one  way  you  lose  in  another.  That's  the 
law  of  the  universe,  and  Mother  couldn't 
change  that. 

It  was  by  one  of  Mother's  innocent  de 
vices  to  conseal  her  poverty  that  we  got  our 
little  home  that  is  down  to  Chictooset. 
Father  was  took  away  verry  sudden  when 
we  was  all  little  and  as  if  that  wan't  enough 
our  old  house  also  got  burned  up  the  saim 

83 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

winter.  Thare  wasn't  no  insurance  on 
eather  one  as  father  had  always  said  he  did- 
dent  have  no  Monney  to  throw  away  on  fire 
Insurance  companys.  She  went  round  sew 
ing  by  the  day  when  she  could.  Jim  and 
Mandy  went  to  school  and  I  kep  house. 
We  had  2  rooms  in  a  woman's  house.  It 
was  almost  more  than  mother  was  equall 
to  to  find  somethin  for  us  to  vittle  up  on. 
Father  used  to  tell  her  thare  was  good  money 
coming  to  him  as  he  had  lent  sums  to  some 
people  in  his  Prosperity  that  was  now  able 
to  pay.  But  he  newar  mentioned  no  Names 
and  here  was  mother  aloan  on  the  sea  of 
life  not  knowing  who  to  dun.  Father  could 
never  reely  afford  to  lend  money  but  thare 
was  always  a  queer  streak  in  the  Aliens. 
They  would  be  awful  mean  and  near  with 
thare  famblys  and  would  rave  and  tair 
round  if  much  buttar  was  used  in  the  cook 
ing  (grandmother  Allen's  privet  reseat 
books  reflects  that)  and  yet  would  lend 
money  to  torn  dick  and  Harry  without 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

hardly  any  fuss.  In  father  it  was  worst 
of  all.  Thank  goodness  thare  aint  no 
sines  of  it  in  Jim  or  the  childern  and  I 
got  a  theory  that  it  reached  its  highest 
point  (or  climax)  in  father,  came  to  a  head 
and  busted. 

I'm  a  great  believer  in  herredity,  because 
I  know  if  it  dont  come  out  one  way  it  will 
in  another.  There  was  a  man  down  to 
Chictooset  that  stuttered  something  terri 
ble;  but  he  managed  to  stammer  out  a  pro 
posal  of  matrimony  and  she  said  yes.  In 
due  coarse  of  time  a  dear  little  baby  boy 
was  born  to  them  named  Willie,  but  it  wan't 
a  great  while  (and  here  comes  the  saddest 
and  curiousest  part  of  my  story)  it  wan't 
a  very  great  while  before  he  was  found  to 
be  a  deef  and  dumb  mute  by  hollering  and 
setting  off  fire  crackers  and  tin  pans  and 
anything  they  wanted  to  right  under  his 
nose  and  he  didn't  move  a  mussle.  Broken 
hearted  as  his  payrents  was  there  was  one 
gleam  of  brightness  in  this  sad  and  sollem 
8s 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

picture.  Their  little  child  could  never  in 
herit  his  father's  ailment. 

But  when  he  got  big  enough  to  go  to  one 
of  them  mute  alphabet  schools  and  learned 
it,  what  did  he  begin  to  do  but  stutter  with 
his  fingers !  It  made  his  teachers  awful  ner 
vous  to  see  him  recite,  especially  as  his  little 
school-mates  used  to  giggle  to  see  his  fingers 
rub  together  and  flop  round  jest  like  his 
father's  tongue  when  he  tried  to  get  any 
thing  out — or  off,  I  had  ought  to  say.  If 
that  don't  show  the  onresistable  foarce  of 
heriddity  I  should  like  to  know  what  it 
does  show! 

I  was  made  to  think  of  this  the  other  day 
when  Mr.  Spinney  showed  us  a  note  from 
his  friend  Shannon  Brien  (grandson  of 
Felix  O'Brien  of  Pawtucket)  signed  R.  H. 
Brieno.  Him  and  Mr.  Spinney  is  study 
ing  Esperanto  and  that  was  what  the  note 
was  writ  in.  Probbly  you  know  already 
what  Mr.  Spinney  told  us,  that  in  Esperanto 
every  noun,  no  matter  whether  it's  propper 

86 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

or  impropper,  has  to  end  with  an  O  so  there 
hadn't  ought  to  be  anything  anyways  start 
ling  to  see  the  signature,  R.  H.  Brieno. 
But  what  I  done  was  to  yell  out>  "There's 
his  grandfather's  O  back  again!"  He'd 
dropped  it  in  the  yo's. 

Jim  takes  after  father  in  size.  He  is  big 
&  tall  like  all  the  Aliens.  Mother  was  a 
Shattuck  and  they  was  diffrant.  The  Shat- 
tucks  was  all  ladys  from  the  word  go  and 
they  wassent  one  of  them  but  what  kep  a 
riding  waggon  and  rode  in  stile  to  meeting 
and  the  fare  insted  of  hoofing  it  like  com 
mon  folks.  They  wassent  rich  but  thay 
was  good  providers  on  that  side.  Jim's 
childern  comes  from  a  good  and  generus 
stork.  But  Mother  was  a  little  mite  of  a 
thing  (Sis  is  as  much  like  her  as  2  peas) 
and  I  spose  opposits  attack.  Mother  had 
another  Offar  befoar  she  took  up  with 
father.  It  was  a  sea  capten  that  was  a 
funny  looking  wizened  up  little  man  with 
a  hook  nose  and  kind  of  bent  up  dubble 

87 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

but  a  kind  and  honest  hart  and  money  in 
the  bank  that  he  plaiced  at  Mother's  dis 
posal  which  she  declined.  Some  of  her  re 
lations  demonstrated  with  her  saying  that 
he  was  a  sea  capten  and  went  to  forrin  parts 
and  she  could  have  so  many  little  curiositys. 
"Yes,"  says  she,  "if  thay  looked  like  thair 
father  thay  would  be  little  curiositys." 

Soon  after  she  was  left  a  widder  her 
bosom  freind,  Mrs.  Alvarus  B.  Whinney, 
died  and  she  didn't  have  no  gloves  for  the 
funerell.  Mother  was  a  naturel  born  lady 
and  newer  enjoyed  a  funerel  unless  she 
was  sootably  and  respectively  Dressed. 
She  newer  borrered  anything^  not  even 
Trubble.  She  couldn't  stay  away  from  the 
funerell  and  it  was  Borne  in  upon  her  with 
equell  foarce  that  she  couldent  go  without 
gloves.  Jest  as  plane  as  if  it  was  wrote  in 
fire  in  the  Heavens  was  the  other  remain 
dering  fack  that  she  couldent  buy  any 
Gloves.  But  sech  things  didnt  faze  Mother 
a  great  while.  On  the  morning  of  the  day 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

when  Mrs.  Whinney,  the  neatest  woman 
in  Chictooset  and  her  dearest  freind,  was 
to  be  laid  quietly  away  among  the  flowers 
that  showed  in  what  Esteam  the  diseased 
was  held  while  she  was  blacking  the  stove 
a  thought  came  to  her  that  she  pursewed  to 
a  practical  end. 

She  went  to  the  funerell,  set  with  the 
Moarners,  and  folks  said  she  was  the  most 
Genteel  persen  pressant.  Everything  went 
off  fine.  But  it  struck  Mother  kind  of 
funny  that  there  should  be  cornsiddable 
dust  on  the  parler  tables  and  chares  because 
Mrs.  Whinney  was  a  duster  first  and  a 
woman  afterwords.  She  beleaved  that 
Clenliness  was  nex  to  godlyness  but  she 
rated  it  nex  higher  instead  of  lower.  It  was 
said  nobody  had  scarcely  ever  seen  her 
without  a  dust  cloth  somewhares  about  her 
person  and  no  fly  was  allowed  inside  of  the 
front  gate.  Well,  Mother  was  thinking  of 
this  and  wondering  how  she  could  Lay 
thare  so  carm  and  pcacefull  when  you  could 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

write  your  name  on  the  furniture  when  all 
to  once  she  was  Startled  by  hearing  the 
preacher  say  "Our  dear  Departed  one  will 
return  to  dust!" 

It  gave  her  quite  a  turn.  Before  she  left 
the  house  old  Squire  Henbury  that  is  as 
rich  as  creases  and  hadn't  seen  her  since 
Father  died  came  up  to  her  and  held  out 
his  hand  as  he  asked  her  how  she  did.  She 
didn't  take  his  hand  and  he,  thinking  she 
didn't  notice  his,  made  a  grab  to  take  aholt 
of  hers.  She  pulled  it  away  without  letting 
him  touch  it  and  marched  out  with  her 
cheeks  burning  and  her  little  head  held 
high  same  as  it  always  was  when  she  was 
mortifide  to  death  and  wanted  to  hide  it 
somewheres. 

Next  day  she  got  a  letter  from  him  say 
ing  he  didn't  blame  her  for  the  way  she 
treated  him  but  money  had  been  awful  tight 
and  he  was  calkilating  to  pay  her  later  on, 
seeing  she  didn't  really  nead  it.  (That 
shows  how  well  she  consealed  her  povarty.) 
90 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

But  seeing  how  she  felt  about  it  he  was 
making  some  sacrifices  to  pay  her  half  of 
the  $786.64  now  which  was  what  the  prin 
cipal  and  interest  amounted  to  and  the  rest 
in  3  months. 

Praps  she  dident  jist  about  go  craizy  for 
joy.  This  meant  a  home  for  us  all  because 
she  had  a  sellar  towards  it  already  besides 
the  land.  She  had  tryed  to  sell  it  but  no 
body  wanted  it  and  now  she  saw  everything 
had  worked  out  for  the  best.  In  a  story 
she  would  of  been  found  unconscionable 
with  the  lettar  clutched  in  her  hand.  But 
that  wan't  Mother.  She  had  put  off  the 
weak's  wash,  not  fealing  equel  to  it  but  now 
she  was  so  excited  and  nerved  up  she  got 
out  the  tubs  and  set  Jim  to  fetching  water 
from  the  well.  You  know  how  put-off 
washes  grow.  Well  this  was  a  rouser.  But 
Mother  done  every  scrap  of  it  and  hung 
them  out  by  moonlight.  She  couldent  sleep 
that  night  but  she  dident  want  to.  She  was 
so  happy  she  wanted  to  lay  awake  and  en- 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

joy  it.  She  knew  then  that  the  squire  had 
judged  rightly  that  she  knew  nothing  of 
the  det  but  his  gilded  conscience  had  took 
a  meaning  from  her  refusing  to  taik  his 
hand  that  she  dreamed  not  of.  Her  hands 
was  blacked  with  stove  polish  instead  of 
gloves.  I  must  close  now.  You  see  how  it 
was  about  the  lettar  getting  all  soiled  up. 
Bub  will  be  more  careful  nex  time. 
Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


92 


XIV 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

We  have  had  a  party  and  it  went  off  fine 
— all  but  the  first  hour  of  it,  when  I  was 
afraid  each  one  of  the  party  would  go  off 
seperate,  it  was  so  awful  dull.  But  first  I 
must  tell  you  how  it  happened.  When 
Mrs.  Ezra  Sawyer's  house  took  afire  but 
most  of  it  was  spared  by  the  all-devouring 
eliment,  she  made  them  take  her  best  furni- 
toor  and  her  bricky-back  into  our  house  till 
she  returned  from  her  Sister's  whose  arms 
opened  to  recieve  her  and  her  nerves  had 
got  all  unstrung  from  the  shock.  The  fire 
happened  in  the  night.  She  was  asleep  and 
the  flames  broke  out  and  when  they  Hol 
lered  to  her  she  says  she  dident  hardly  have 
time  to  recover  herself  and  escaip.  They 
was  rich,  handsome  furnitoor  and  we  was 

93 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

so  afraid  of  marring  it  up  that  Mame  said 
we  would  poke  our  things  into  the  kitchen 
and  bedroom  best  way  we  could  and  set 
hers  round  in  the  parler  and  setting-room. 
We  all  helped  and  myl  if  our  rooms  dident 
look  grand  when  we  got  through!  It 
seamed  like  we  was  off  somewheres  on  a 
visit.  There  was  a  sollid  oak  center  table 
which  we  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  par 
ler  and  set  on  it  a  big  image  with  wings 
but  no  head.  First  off  I  thought  it  had  got 
broke  off  by  the  fire  but  Mr.  Spinney  ex- 
planed  that  it  never  had  no  head.  I  al 
ways  heard  that  geniuses  had  queer  notions 
but  this  was  the  funnyest  of  all,  making  a 
woman  without  any  head.  Mr.  Spinney 
said  the  artist  being  a  sinnick  about  women 
and  calkilating  they  didn't  need  no  place  to 
keep  branes  in  might  explain  it.  I  thought 
praps  it  represented  Mary,  Queen  of  scots 
on  her  way  to  heaven,  especially  as  there 
was  something  on  it  about  it  being  executed 

94 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

somewheres.  Then  we  found  at  the  side  a 
little  broken  brass  tag  and  all  that  was  left 
of  it  was  Victory  of  Sam —  No  doubt, 
then,  it  meant  Uncle  Sam  and  celebrated 
an  American  victory.  Only  the  figger  not 
having  no  head  might  mean  he  intended  it 
not  for  any  particklar  nation  or  clime  but 
for  all  nations  and  all  climes — jest  plain 
straight  woman — and  any  kind  of  a  face  or 
head  would  give  her  away  as  belongin  to 
some  special  one,  same  as  the  duch  madon 
nas. 

Jim  said  as  she  must  have  been  a  woman 
who  only  lost  her  head  once,  the  thing  was 
so  onusual  the  artist  seazed  his  opportunity. 

Sis  is  awful  matter-of-fack  (she's  almost 
pure  Shattuck)  and  she  thought  the  plaster 
had  give  out;  that  he  used  so  much  on  them 
big  wings  there  wan't  none  left  for  the 
head. 

Mame  said,  "If  a  woman's  got  wings  she 
don't  need  no  head.  She  don't  have  to  plan 

95 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

to  keep  out  of  trubble  when  she  can  fly 
away  from  it.  Still,"  she  added  reflectu- 
ally,  "I  would  incline  to  a  head." 

"Well,  anyway,"  says  Jim,  "that  makes 
2  women  I  know  that  you  can't  get  a  head 
of." 

By  this  time  Sis  had  tried  onto  the  boddy 
her  new  doll's  head  and  much  to  every  one's 
joy  it  fitted.  A  pink  necktie  fastened  it  on 
secure  and  there  she  was  compleat. 

While  we  was  rushing  round  having 
such  a  good  time  fixing  things  up,  Jim 
(who  is  tall  &  big  and  called  kind  of 
clumsy  even  by  them  that  loves  him  best) 
stepped  twice  on  the  cat's  tail. 

"I'm  awful  sorry,"  he  says,  when  she  let 
out  quite  a  sizable  "yeouw,"  "but  its  on  ac 
count  of  me  being  so  lofty.  I  don't  see  her 
because  she's  so  fur  off." 

"Yes,  it's  a  case  of  'fur  off'  all  right," 
says  Mr.  Spinney,  taking  her  up  and  ex 
amining  her  injerrys.  "But  you  haddent 
ought  to  mutilate  her  like  this." 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Diddent  she  mew  till  late  herself  last 
night?  I  had  to  throw  everything  at  her 
I  could  find,  even  a  box  of  matches." 

"That  was  dangerous,"  says  Mame. 

"Yes,"  he  says,  "especially  as  they  all  of 
'em  lit  on  the  cat.  But  I  am  sometimes 
foarced  to  give  pain  though  I  have  a  great 
sole." 

"Sometimes  because  of  it,"  says  Mr. 
Spinney,  glancing  at  his  feet.  "Come,  Kit, 
you'd  better  repair  to  your  cat-acombs," 
opening  the  seller  doar  for  her  to  pass 
down. 

When  we  was  hanging  the  pictures  he 
says  "Here  is  a  madonna  by  a  living  artist 
and  I  don't  like  it.  I  don't  like  any  of  the 
madonnas  done  by  the  living  artists." 

That  dident  sound  reasonable  to  me  but 
I  dident  say  nothing.  But  Sis  did.  She 
says,  "I  should  think  their  being  alive 
would  help  out  quite  a  lot  when  they  was 
painting." 

"Now  this  for  instants,"  he  says.  "Look 
97 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

at  the  stagy  hair  and  pose.  Somebody 
might  inquire  what  actress  it  is." 

"It's  Mary  AND  her  son,"  says  Jim.  Then 
there  was  a  portrait  of  Marthy  Washington 
painted  in  impressionistic  stile  that  I  dident 
care  for.  I  thought  at  first  it  was  a  mareen 
view. 

After  everything  had  been  put  in  place 
and  we  was  standing  round  admiring  it 
Mame  says,  "Let's  have  a  party  1" 

Seeing  Jim  was  about  to  speak  she  says, 
"Now,  Jim  Allen,  don't  you  say  a  word! 
I  know  that  we  can't  as  well  as  you  do; 
but  let's  send  out  the  invertations  quick, 
before  we  find  out  for  sure  we  can't  1" 

Then  she  reminded  us  there  was  two 
Chictooset  ladys  avisiting  in  the  city  and 
it  wouldent  do  no  harm  for  them  to  go 
home  and  tell  folks  we  was  living  in  stile. 

So  Sis  was  sent  right  out  with  the  inverta 
tions.  It  was  going  to  be  the  next  night 
and  we  had  to  hussle  pretty  lively  to  get 
ready.  At  first  everything  seamed  to  go 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

wrong.  Mame  and  Mandy  had  poor  luck 
with  their  doenuts.  They  soaked  fat  and 
was  soggy.  (I  mean  the  doenuts  did.) 
When  Jim  came  in  to  suppar  he  heard 
Mame  say,  "Come,  let's  rest  from  our 
labors." 

"They  shall  rest  from  their  labors,"  he 
says,  "and  their  works  shall  foller  them," 
aiming  a  doenut  at  each  one  but  missing 
them,  I  am  glad  to  say. 

When  Mame  remarke'd  that  we  must 
count  noses  in  making  the  cakes,  Sis  says, 
"Count  2  apiece  for  Mrs.  Patterson  and  the 
Tortrums.  Mrs.  Patterson  has  got  to  bring 
her  Aged  mother-in-law  that  is  hard  of 
hearing,  on  account  of  fire  or  burglars,  and 
the  Tortrums  is  going  to  bring  along  their 
little  boy  'cause  there's  no  one  to  stay  with 
him.  His  mother  says  she  is  going  to  take 
the  libberty  of  letting  him  stay  all  night 
because  she  don't  want  to  wake  him  up  at 
10  or  ii.  The  docter  says  he  mussent  be 
broke  of  his  rest." 

99 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Well,  all  right,"  says  Mame;  "only  we 
mussent  let  his  mother  go  into  the  boys' 
bedroom  with  him.  It  would  give  the 
whole  thing  away."  The  room  is  so  full 
of  our  furnitoor  the  boys  has  to  clime  in 
over  tables  &  chares  and  ondress  on  top 
of  the  organ.  They'd  been  practicing  it 
all  day  so  as  to  do  it  in  a  noiseless  manner 
when  the  time  come.  "Should  she  show 
any  signs  of  follering  him  into  the  room," 
she  continooed,  addressing  all  pressant, 
"take  what  mezzures  you  can  to  keep  her 
out.  Don't  stop  at  anything  should  sech  a 
thing  ockur." 

"What  can  we  tell  her  that  is  true?"  I 
inquired,  wishing  to  be  armed  at  every 
point. 

"Tell  her  anything  that  comes  into  your 
head.  There  is  no  times  for  childish 
scrooples.  Trust  to  the  Insperration  of  the 
moment  and  all  the  gumption  you  can  com 
mand.  If  nothing  else  comes  to  you  tell 
100 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

her  you  think  you  smell  smoke  in  the  front 
of  the  house  and  she  had  better  get  out 
as  quick  as  she  can." 

"Then  she'll  want  to  save  her  boy." 

"From  what  I  know  of  the  boy,  that's 
the  last  thing  she'd  want  to  do." 

And  then  we  had  to  plan  about  othar 
things. 

Soon  as  suppar  the  nex  night,  when  I 
was  ready  to  put  on  the  other  dress,  I  found 
it  might  jest  as  well  be  in  North  Utopia 
as  fur  as  me  getting  it  was  conserned.  It 
was  in  the  Close  press  and  between  me  and 
that  close  press  was  more  things  all  on 
top  of  each  othar  than  could  be  moved  in 
2  hours. 

Mr.  Spinney  remarked  afterwards  that 
no  one,  to  the  best  of  his  nolledge  and  abil- 
lity,  had  ever  been  so  close  pressed  for 
time. 

I  was  standing  in  the  entry  wondering 
what  Mother  would  do  in  a  simular  crisiss, 
101 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

when  Ellen  came  down  to  ask  if  there  wan't 
something  else  she  could  tend  to.  (She 
had  been  helping  all  day  and  so  had  her 
mother).  She  was  dressed  for  the  party, 
in  pink,  and  looked  too  pretty  to  be  reel. 
She  thought  a  minute  as  she  looked  at  my 
old  calico  sack  and  skirt  and  then  she  says, 
"Come  on  up  stairs.  It  wont  do  no  harm 
to  try." 

I  follered  her  up  and  she  took  me  right 
into  her  bedroom.  "Now,"  she  says,  "is  my 
chanst;  I've  alwers  wondered  what  you'd 
look  like  in  a  decent — I  mean  kind  of  a 
stilish  dress."  When  she  took  out  a  pretty 
blue  one  with  a  little  white  lace  trimming, 
I  says,  "Please  don't  fool  now,  Ellen,  dear; 
I  know  Mame  will  call  me  in  a  minute 
and  I'm  scared  to  face  her.  Tell  me  what 
I  can  do." 

She  didn't  make  no  reply  but  in  another 
minute  she  was  squeezing  me  into  the  blue 
dress.  "Hold  in  your  breath,"  she  com- 
102 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

manded.  "More  and  more.  There!"  she 
says,  "I  have  got  it  to,  all  but  2  hooks. 
Draw  in  again  as  if  your  life  depended  on 
it." 

I  done  so,  thinking  perhaps  it  did. 
(Mame  would  feel  bad  if  I  wasent  ready 
at  half  past  7.) 

With  Mrs.  Hennersy's  help  I  was  in  it 
at  last.  "Now  set  down  here!"  agane  com 
manded  Ellen;  "and  I'll  fix  your  hair  a 
little  bit."  And  what  did  that  girl  do  but 
fluff  it  up  and  rig  it  up  into  a  Pompeydore. 
I  wouldent  let  her  do  sech  a  foolish  thing 
any  other  time,  but  she  had  took  possession 
of  me  and  there  was  no  time  to  argew.  I 
had  no  breath  for  it  either,  the  blue  dress 
was  so  tight.  My  blood  dident  circulate, 
and  it  all  felt  as  if  it  had  settled  in  my 
cheeks,  for  they  looked  as  rozy  as  Ellen's 
when  she  showed  me  myself  (what  must 
be  myself)  in  the  glass.  It  was  then  half 
past  7  and  I  run  down  stairs.  Mame 
103 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

thought  I  was  some  one  come  to  the  party 
and  she  had  ackchelly  put  out  her  hand  to 
shake  hands  before  she  saw  it  was  me. 

"You  look  slick!"  she  says,  and  hollered 
for  Jim  to  come  and  see  me.  I  would  of 
felt  awful  foolish  if  there  was  time  to  feal 
anyway  which  there  wassent.  They  was  a 
duzzen  last  things  to  attend  to  and  poor 
Mame  was  on  the  verge  of  high  sterricks 
with  nervous  fateeg. 

At  last  everything  was  ready  and  we  all 
set  down  in  the  parler  waiting,  Sis  nearest 
the  door  to  ancer  the  bell.  But  the  bell 
seamed  to  be  like  the  notes  that  "dont  re- 
quier  no  ancer."  We  set  and  set  and  set 
and  come  to  the  Conclusion  at  lenth  that 
nobody  was  coming  to  the  party.  The  boys 
was  saying,  "Can't  we  eat  up  the  treat?" 
when  there  came  the  long-expeckted  sound 
of  the  bell.  We  all  stood  up  and  Sis  pulled 
out  her  sash  and  went  to  the  door.  It  was 
a  man  wanted  to  know  if  we  wished  to  buy 
any  soap.  Another  long  period  of  distress- 
104 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ful  and  anxious  waiting  during  which  time 
me  and  Jim's  lungs  was  trying  to  breathe 
in  their  unwonted  imprisonment.  Jim  had 
on  the  same  he  wore  to  the  pickanick,  with 
the  exceptions  of  him  having  on  his  light 
checked  trousers  instead  of  the  golf  ones. 
The  evening  coat  was  pretty  tight. 

Finally  they  began  to  arrive  and  then  fol- 
lered  that  othar  distressful  period  to  which 
I  refurred  at  the  beginning  of  my  lettar. 
After  we  introdooced  them  that  dident 
know  each  othar  and  they  all  said,  "I  am 
pleased  to  make  your  acquaintence,"  there 
diddent  seem  to  be  anything  more  to  say. 
We  all  set  round  in  uttar  silence.  We 
couldent  get  the  party  started  in.  We  had 
been  undar  the  delusion  that  we  had  worked 
hard  getting  ready  for  the  party,  but  here 
was  a  jorb  on  our  Hands  comp aired  to 
which  the  othar  was  nothing  but  twerling 
your  thums.  It  was  dretful.  That  silance 
grew  and  grew  and  time  went  on  till  you 
could  hardly  recolleck  what  a  sound  was. 
105 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Noboddy  dasted  to  speak.  Mame  said 
afterwards  she  had  to  dig  her  nales  into 
her  parms  to  keep  from  screaming.  They 
all  looked  at  us  as  much  as  to  say,  "We  defy 
you  to  entertane  us."  Then,  again,  they 
seemed  in  a  voiceless  way  to  reproach  us. 
"We  was  in  pleasant,  happy,  noisy  homes 
and  we  nevar  asked  to  come  to  you.  You 
have  bidden  us  here  and  to  what  end?"  A 
woman  clared  her  throte  and  we  all  jumped. 
I  was  awful  proud  of  Mame  when  at  last 
she  said  (her  voice  tremling)  that  it  was 
quite  mild  for  this  season  of  the  year.  I 
knew  what  currige  it  took  because  any  re 
mark  projeckted  onto  that  silance  was  like 
speaking  a  peice  on  the  tree-top.  Some 
muttared  out  "Yes,"  but  one  woman  who 
on  that  account  I  thought  was  cut  out  for 
a  ruler  in  one  of  them  french  saloons,  says, 
"But  it  aint  healthy  and  there's  considdable 
sickness  will  foller." 

More  silance,  worse  than  befoar,  because 
106 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

this  last  sentance  stayed  in  the  air  and  we 
kep  ahearing  it  and  ahearing  it  (in  our 
mind's  eye)  till  it  seamed  like  some  dyer 
profissey.  It  kep  afloating  round  the  room, 
reverberating  through  your  interiar  then 
getting  loose  agane  and  kerfflambering 
round  till  it  seamed  like  they  was  playing 
batterydore  and  shuttarcock  with  it.  Jim 
said  afterwards  he'd  heard  of  lights  that 
makes  the  darkness  visable,  and  here'd  been 
a  sound  that  made  the  silance  audable. 

Down  to  Chictooset  it  was  alwers  so 
differant.  You  could  say,  "Is  your  Plim- 
muth  rock  alaying?"  or,  "Does  your  cow 
give  a  good  mess?"  which  would  illicit  a 
reply  sech  as  "Yes,  she  gives  12  quarts  of 
milk  and  thinks  nothing  of  it,"  or,  "We 
get  an  aig  from  her  every  day  of  her  life." 
Then  there  would  be  a  nice  soshel  talk 
on  objecks  of  common  and  uncommon  in- 
terrest.  We  all  went  to  the  same  meeting 
down  there  so  we  could  always  disgust  the 
107 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

preacher  and  the  sermen.  Here  every 
body  was  a  differant  kind  of  a  denomina 
tion. 

Well,  at  last  when  we  had  about  decided 
to  vittle  them  up  and  let  them  get  out  alive 
from  this  living  toom  (Jim  had  kep  alook- 
ing  at  his  wach  to  see  if  it  wan't  time,  but 
it  wan't)    the   front   doar  opaned   and   in 
came  Mr.  Spinney.    He  went  up  to  them  he 
knowed   and  shook  their  hand   good  and 
harty,  uttaring  some  cute  and  plessant  re 
marks  to  each  one,  and  he  done  the  same 
to  the  new  ones  we  introdooced  to  him. 
Then  he  says,  "Ladies   and  gentlemen,  I 
beleive  you  are  not  awair  that  I  have  come 
from  the  insultin  of  Turkey  to  entertane 
you  to-night.     I  am  his  Magesty's  magi 
cian,"  and  then  he  went  on  a  long  funny 
rigmarole  that  set  everybody  laughing,  an 
nouncing  he  was  going  to  give  us  examples 
of  Turkish  magic.     "First,  however,"  he 
said,   "I   must   remove   my   coat."     (Sure 
enough,  the  frost  had  all  gone.) 
1 08 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

When  he  came  back  he  done  all  kinds  of 
imposserble  things,  or  praps  I  should  say 
improbable  things.  He  took  aigs  out  of  his 
hat  that  was  Empty,  till  Mame  was  afraid 
he  would  drop  them  on  Mrs.  Sawyer's  beau 
tiful  rugs.  She  might  have  knowed  he 
wouldn't.  Then  he  put  a  ball  under  a  dish 
and  it  come  out  a  canary  bird  (our  Dick), 
and  all  sech  capers.  No  one  could  see  how 
it  was  done  and  the  last  thing  he  done  was 
to  chainge  a  flag  into  a  bunch  of  pinks  and 
he  gave  a  pink  to  each  lady,  and  some  of 
them  was  almost  scared  to  touch  one,  fear 
ing  it  would  blow  up,  or  something. 

By  this  time  there  was  so  much  laughing 
and  hooting  and  talking  going  on  you 
couldent  hear  yourself  speak.  Everybody 
thawed  out  and  the  Chictooset  ladys  had  a 
hundred  things  to  tell  us  and  for  us  to  tell 
them.  They  said  I  had  improved  for  the 
bettar  and  said  I  looked  years  younger.  I 
dident  take  no  creddit  to  myself.  I  knew 
it  w.as  all  the  gownd  and  the  Pompeydore. 
109 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Then  we  played  games  and  among  them 
was  parler  steaple  chase. 

Most  probly  you  have  seen  it.  Obsta- 
ckles  sech  as  the  organ  stool,  the  cuspydoar, 
the  oil  stove,  a  foot  stool,  a  child's  rocker, 
ect,  is  put  along  the  lenth  of  the  room  and 
the  gentlemen  is  told  to  take  a  good  look  at 
them,  so  to  be  familliar  with  the  distance 
between  them  befoar  they  are  blindfolded. 
Then  you  tell  them  they  have  got  to  walk 
from  one  end  to  the  othar  of  the  room  blind 
folded,  stepping  ovar  the  obstackles  and  not 
teching  them.  Well,  all  the  men  was  blind 
folded  and  then  what  did  Mrs.  Peterson 
do  but  take  away  all  the  obstackles  so  the 
men  when  they  done  the  stunt  was  trying 
to  step  ovar  imaginery  ones.  It  was  the 
most  fun  I  evar  saw,  they  all  felt  so  proud 
when  they  got  to  the  end  of  the  row  without 
touching  one  (when  they  wassent  there  at 
all).  I  laughed  till  I  cried  to  see  Jim  and 
Mr.  Tortrum  do  it;  they  lifted  their  legs 
so  high  and  so  cautious, 
no 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

But  when  it  was  Mr.  Spinney's  turn  I 
felt  differant.  Seeing  him  start  out  blind 
folded  with  his  hands  held  out  before  him 
and  everybody  tittering  and  wanting  to  see 
him  made  a  fool  of,  it  seemed  so  pitifull  I 
couldn't  stand  it.  So  I  made  an  excuse  to 
go  into  the  kitchen.  I  think  what  made  me 
feel  so  was  because  it  was  so  diffrant  from 
usuel.  He  was  always  the  one  to  practice 
joaks  and  to  jolly  people  and  it  dident  seem 
naturel  to  see  him  the  innocent  vicktim  of 
a  trick.  When  I  heard  the  shouts  that  told 
it  had  all  been  found  out,  I  went  back  and 
he  looked  reel  releaved  when  he  saw  I 
hadent  been  there.  He  was  soon  caperin 
around  cutting  up  all  kinds  of  shines. 

Right  in  the  midst  of  the  tumult  Mrs. 
Tortrum  said  she  guessed  she  would  go  and 
see  to  McFarland  (that  was  her  boy)  to 
find  out  if  he  was  propparly  tucked  in  and 
had  said  his  little  prare.  I  had  accom- 
panyed  them  to  bed  and  I  had  made  them 
all  say  "Now  I  lay  me"  but  that  was  all 
in 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

they  could  carm  themselves  down  to  say. 
That  one  seems  to  go  with  high  sperrits,  be 
ing  breaf  and  not  requiering  much  com- 
posher. 

Well,  when  she  said  that  I  went  to  her  as 
quick  as  I  could  and  told  her  I  wished  she 
wouldent.  That  our  little  boys  was  extry 
moddest  about  having  outsiders  see  them  in 
their  night  gowns  and  it  would  shaim  and 
mortify  them  to  see  a  strange  lady  a  enter 
ing  their  bed  room. 

She  had  begun  to  say  "Good  gracious," 
and  was  agoing  jest  the  same  when  she  saw 
Mame  alooking  at  her.  I  guess  there  was 
a  look  in  Mame's  eye  that  made  her  sud- 
dently  change  her  mind  because  she  dident 
make  no  more  attempts  to  permeate  the 
sanctitty  of  their  room. 

By  and  by  Mr.  Spinney  come  to  me  and 
says,   "If   Ellen   Hennersy  gives   me   per 
mission  to  put  my  arm  round  her  waste 
would  you  do  it,  if  you  was  me?" 
112 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Course,"  says  I,  not  thinking  she  would 
give  the  permission. 

"Can  I  put  my  arm  round  your  waste, 
Miss  Hennersy?"  he  says. 

"What?  my  blue  one?  Sure  you  can." 
And  then  he  made  for  me,  but  I  got  behind 
Jim.  Him  and  her  had  fixed  up  the  joak 
to  fool  me. 

I  noticed  he  kept  his  eye  on  the  dress  all 
the  evening.  He  has  always  said  Ellen  has 
got  perfeck  taste  in  dress.  I  spose  he 
thought  it  was  like  a  proffernation  for  any 
body  else  to  wear  it. 

We  couldent  carm  the  compenny  down 
enough  to  eat  refreshments  for  a  long  time. 
We  jest  didn't  darst  to  take  a  tray  or  a  pile 
of  Mrs.  Sawyer's  fancy  plaits  into  sech  a 
tumulturous  crowd.  Jim  and  Mr.  Spinney 
had  to  nock  on  the  table  several  times  be- 
foar  they  could  make  themselves  heard  and 
for  them  to  set  down.  They  all  et  harty 
of  the  refreshments  and  at  one  time  I  was 
"3 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

kind  of  afraid  there  wouldent  be  none  left 
for  the  boys.  I  wassent  going  to  take  none 
myself  but  Mr.  Spinney  made  me  by  say 
ing  he  wouldent  if  I  dident.  He  had 
earned  his,  sure. 

Just  then  the  women  begun  to  explain  O 
you  darling,  O  the  precious  lamb  of  earth 
(Jim  says  he  thogt  they  meant  him)  and 
made  for  the  entry  door.  For  what  was 
standing  there,  his  curly  head  all  towsled 
and  his  pretty  eyes  ablinking  and  looking 
round  in  wonder  at  the  goings  on  but  our 
baby.  Then  there  was  a  scuffle  and  a 
scramble  on  the  stairs  and  in  the  entry  and 
all  the  other  boys  appeared  on  the  scean 
jest  as  they  had  got  out  of  bed  pertending 
they  had  come  to  capcher  Baby  but  in  real 
ity  to  witness  the  festivertys  in  person  and 
claim  their  share  of  the  treat.  Mame  was 
for  driving  them  all  off  again  but  when  she 
see  how  poplar  they  was  and  how  bent  the 
men  folks  was  on  feeding  them  up  she  let 
them  set  round  the  kitchen  table  and  the 
114 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

men  waited  on  them  and  I  dont  know  which 
made  the  most  noise. 

I  aint  seen  Mrs.  Tortrum  sence  and  I 
would  jest  as  lives  not  come  in  contack  with 
her  till  this  sudden  eppysodehad  faded  from 
her  mind. 

Old  Mrs.  Peterson  was  a  dear  old  lady 
and  because  she  was  kind  of  deef  she  dident 
take  much  part  in  the  conversation  only  once 
in  a  while.  But  she  set  and  smiled  and 
seamed  glad  to  see  othars  having  a  good 
time.  She  is  almost  86  and  is  very  gentle 
and  composed.  During  refreshments  a 
woman  near  her  was  telling  about  being 
tormented  with  rats  in  her  house  that  she 
paid  a  high  rent  for,  and  the  old  lady 
showed  she  heard  about  all  that  was  said. 
Then  another  woman  mentioned  her  hav 
ing  canvassers  come  to  the  door  quite  fre- 
quant,  more  frequant,  she  added,  than  was 
sometimes  desired.  "What  do  you  do,  Mrs. 
Peterson,"  she  says,  "to  get  rid  of  them?" 

The  dear  old  saint,  not  knowing  the  sub- 
115 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ject  of  conversation  had  been  changed,  re 
plied  with  her  soft  voice  and  gentle  smile, 
"I  alwers  give  em  rough  on  rats.  I  don't 
find  anything  else  so  satisfactory." 

Mr.  Spinney  set  down  to  the  peannar  and 
played  and  sang  and  everyboddy  joined  in. 
It  was  morning  when  the  party  went  away 
and  a  gay  crowd  it  was.  Jim  says,  "Look 
out,  or  folks  will  think  that  wan't  water 
we  pored  out  of  the  bottle."  His  mean 
ing  was  us  using  minnerell  water.  It  don't 
seam  temperet  to  be  poring  it  from  a  bottle 
because  it  seams  as  if  it  would  lead  to  some 
thing  werse.  But  we  are  using  it  because 
there  is  said  to  be  annimel  substants  in  the 
fasset  water.  Mrs.  Hennersy  wont  drink  it 
on  f  riday  no  more. 

When  they  had  all  gone  and  we  was  so 
happy  because  it  had  passed  off  so  fine  Jim 
says,  "Yes,  and  Lyddy  Rogers  says  she's  go 
ing  to  send  a  peice  about  it  to  the  Chick- 
tooset  Arrow.  And  she's  going  to  set  it 
116 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

out  in  great  stile.  We'll  all  see  it  Friday 
night." 

Mame  could  jest  gasp  out  "Oh!"  in  ex- 
tattick  tones,  for  this  was  the  crowning 
point  of  her  zeenith. 

"But,"  continued  Jim,  "I  hope  you  don't 
forget  we've  got  to  go  slow  on  butter  for 
a  month  and  thare  mussent  he  a  speck  of 
suger  brought  in  here  till  then,  and  we  got 
to  give  up  having  the  setting-room  pa 
pered." 

"Huh!"  says  Mame;  "who  cares  anything 
about  suger  and  butter!  I  don't  care  if  I 
never  see  eather  agane.  Our  party  has 
been  the  most  splendid  ever!" 

But  she  had  jest  been  having  oyster  stew 
and  ice-cream,  and  I  guess  she  felt  ruther 
differant  nex  day.  You  can't  think  what 
hungar  is  on  a  full  stomick.  That  is  why 
fasting  and  arms  deeds  goes  together. 
You've  got  to  fast  in  ordar  to  pitty  the  poor, 
and  even  then  it  don't  last  long.  To  pitty 
117 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

the  poor  like  they  deserve  to  be  pittyed  you 
have  got  to  be  poor  yourself.  And  then 
you  ain't  got  nothing  to  give  em.  It's  a 
puzzle  all  round. 

I  tried  not  to  think  when  we  was  feasting 
and  singing  that  only  a  little  ways  off  there 
was  people  going  to  bed  supparless. 

So  no  more  at  pressant  from 
Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


118 


XV 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  hope  you  wan't  kep  awake  las  night  by 
the  celebration  by  the  college  boys  on  the 
Hill.  Lyddy  Rogers  of  Chictooset  has  jest 
ben  in  and  she  was  laughing  about  them 
taking  Mr.  Mandell's  Sign,  Interior  Dec- 
kyrator  and  putting  it  over  the  caterer's 
door  next  to  it. 

Lyddy  is  one  of  the  Chictooset  ladies  that 
was  here  to  the  party.  We  wouldn't  have 
known  she  was  in  town  if  she  hadn't  met 
Jim  and  Mame  on  the  street  the  Sunday 
before.  They  didn't  know  her  because  she 
looked  so  high-toned,  but  she  stopped  them 
and  says  to  Jim,  "Aint  I  seen  this  face  be 
fore?" 

"I  shouldn't  wonder,"  he  says,  "I've  wore 
it  quite  a  spell." 

119 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"It's  the  face  of  a  little  boy  that  used  to 
be  awfull  kind  to  his  mother,"  she  says 
aholding  out  her  hand^  "it  aint  changed  a 
bit!" 

"Neither  has  the  little  boy — inside,"  says 
Mame,  and  then  they  all  had  a  good  laugh, 
for  they  knew  then  it  was  Lyddy. 

When  Mame  told  her  she  didn't  know 
her  on  account  of  her  looking  so  fine, 
Lyddy  says,  "Law!  It's  nothing  but  this 
new  street  suit.  Any  woman  would  look 
fine  in  it.  You  know  it  takes  9  tailers  to 
make  a  man  but  one  tailer  can  make  a 
woman." 

Then  Lyddy  had  a  lot  of  questions  to 
ask  about  the  fambly  and  promised  to  come 
and  see  us,  so  here  she  come  this  morning 
and  we  had  a  lovely  talk  over  old  times. 
To  be  sure  she  was  here  to  the  party  but 
that  wan't  like  seeing  us  alone.  We  see 
that  she  was  properous  and  she  told  us  all 
about  the  business  she'd  took  up. 

There's  so  many  new  and  curious  ways 
120 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

for  women  to  earn  their  living  now-days 
that  we  aint  hardly  ever  surprised  at  any 
thing  in  that  line.  There's  them  that  packs 
trunks  for  them  that's  too  lazy  to  do  it  for 
themselves  going  on  a  journey,  them  that 
amuse  inverlids  ect;  but  the  funniest  of  all, 
it  'pears  to  me,  is  Lyddy  Rogers  making  a 
lot  of  money  jest  by  taking  people  down. 
We  always  knew  Lyddy  could  do  it  and 
did  do  it  but  you  would  have  supposed  that 
with  sech  a  habit  as  that  she'd  be  apt  to  lose 
by  it  instead  of  gaining. 

It  all  come  about  accidental,  same  as  so 
many  great  discoveries  has  ben  made  in 
times  past.  Histerry  is  jest  reeking  with 
them,  same  as  Galilee  O.  inventing  clocks 
with  faces  jest  by  watching  the  oscu 
lations  of  the  shandylear  in  the  meeting 
house. 

A  freind  of  hers  heard  her  use  her  sharp 
tongue  once  (once  in  particular,  I  mean), 
and  she  laughed  and  says,  "I'll  give  you 
5$,  Lyd,  if  you  come-  over  to  my  house 

(121 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

and  give  my  sister-in-law  a  whack  like  that. 
I  fairly  aik  to  do  it  but  I  aint  going  to 
make  trouble  for  Fred.  You're  out  of  the 
family  and  you  could  do  it  all  right." 

"Going  to  be  home  to-morrow  night?" 
says  Lyddy,  quick  like. 

"Yes,"  says  her  f reind ;  why?" 
"Are  you  sure  you've  got  the  5$?" 
"Sure  I  have.     You  don't  mean — " 
"No  matter  what  I  mean.    Jest  have  her 
there.    That's  all." 

Neither  one  has  ever  told  jest  what  oc- 
kurred  but  Marietta  (that's  the  f  reind) 
laughs  whenever  the  subject  is  mentioned 
and  I  guess  she  doubled  her  fee  because 
nex  morning  Lyddy  marched  into  Seth 
Limpet's,  the  undertaker's,  and  hove  a  ten 
doller  bill  on  the  counter  asaying,  "Here's 
ten  more,  Seth;  I  guess  we're  creeping 
along." 

"Now,  Lyddy,"  begun  Mr.  Limpet,  "if 
it  aint  puffickly  convenient  jest  now — " 
"You  take  that  money,   Seth   Limpet," 
122 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

says  she,  "and  say  nothing.  I  don't  know 
when  I'll  have  any  more  to  give  you,  but 
I  know  I  will  some  time.  I'd  die  if  I 
thought  I  couldn't  and  dying's  a  lugsury  I 
can't  afford!" 

It  was  towards  her  father's  funeral  ex 
penses.  He'd  ben  a  pairalettic  for  thirty 
odd  years  and  she'd  took  care  of  him  and 
supported  him  all  that  time.  Before  his 
own  money  was  all  used  up  (and  he'd  had 
quite  a  pile)  he  used  to  say,  "Save  enough 
to  bury  me,  Lyddy;  don't  forget  that,"  es 
pecially  when  she  bought  some  little  lug 
sury  that  he  thought  he  could  do  without. 

But  Lyddy,  though  she'd  say  "Yes, 
Father,"  very  dutiful,  never  skimped  him 
in  anything. 

She  was  put  to  it  to  know  what  to  do 
when  she'd  got  to  use  the  money  in  the 
strong-box.  It  was  what  he'd  saved  up  all 
his  life  when  he  was  aworking  and  when 
he  got  bed-ridden  he  liked  to  finger  it  and 
Count  it  ovar.  But  she  mannidged  to  get 
123 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

aholt  of  some  counterfit  money  of  the  same 
diggrees  and  put  it  in  its  place.  He  used 
to  love  to  handle  it  ovar  and  ovar  and  he 
would  say,  "That's  the  very  2-dollar  bill  me 
and  your  mother  dident  use  going  to  con 
ference  one  year.  We  talked  it  ovar  and 
settled  down  we'd  ruther  add  it  up  to  what 
we  was  saving  for  you  when  we  was  gone. 
I  know  it  by  the  little  peice  that's  gone 
offer  the  corner"  (Lyddy  had  saw  to  that). 
"Then  this  old  five-dollar  one  that's  so  dirty 
&  Crumped  up"  (poor  Lyd  had  squshed  it 
up  and  rubbed  it  round  on  the  barn  floar 
so's  to  coppy  after  the  one  she  had  to  give 
the  grocar) ,  that  one's  the  summer  me  and 
her  sold  all  the  strawberrys  we  picked  in 
room  of  having  them  picked  for  suppar 
most  evry  night.  Land!  we  had  enough 
othar  things,  and  she  says,  "the  baby'll  find 
that  handy  sometime."  And  so  he'd  go  on, 
smoothing  out  the  bills,  his  thin  old  hands 
ashaking,  and  making  kind  of  sandwiches 
with  the  paper  money  and  the  cents  and  all 
124 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

sech  capers,  &  he'd  go  off  to  sleep  with  the 
strong-box  in  his  hands. 

Some  folks  suffer  an  awful  sight  through 
their  partickler  virtews  being,  like  Lyddy, 
put  so  she  couldent  practice  her  besetting 
virtew.  That  with  her  was  being  honest  and 
alwers  telling  the  truth,  no  matter  what 
happened.  It  was  awfull  hard  against  her 
nater  to  keep  up  a  bluff  like  this  while  some 
folks  I  know  would  have  a  reglar  pickanick 
adoing  it.  She  told  us  afterwards  that  the 
words  "Pa,  I  ben  afooling  yer,"  was  right 
on  the  surfiss  for  years  and  she'd  had  a  terri 
ble  struggle  to  keep  'em  back.  One  day 
after  all  them  years  she  couldent  stand  it  no 
longer  and  she  felt  'em  acoming  out  at  last, 
"Pa,  I  ben  afooling  yer!"  says  the  words 
('twant  her  at  all,  she  says)  as  she  was  ago 
ing  into  his  bedroom.  But  he  dident  hear 
them  and  he  nevar  heard  nothing  else  in 
this  world. 

The  spewrious  money  was  alaying  in  nice 
little  piles  on  the  bed-quilt  and  on  two  of 
125 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

them  laid  a  hand  that  had  stopped  its 
trembling  and  was  still. 

She  picked  out  for  him  the  most  costly 
casket  there  was  when  she  didn't  have  but 
75  cents  to  her  name.  No  one  darsted  to 
offer  to  help  her  but  one  woman  told  her 
she'd  ought  to  be  more  modderit  and  not 
burden  herself  with  quite  sech  a  large  debt. 

"The  debt'll  be  paid,"  she  says;  "I  know 
there's  a  Gawd." 

The  docter  told  her  it  would  be  useless 
to  try  to  do  any  hard  work  on  account  of 
the  serious  ailments  she'd  contracted  (con 
tracted!)  so  she  couldn't  do  no  more  tailor 
ing  nor  nursing,  things  she  understood  so 
thorough.  So  she'd  ben  jes  puttering  along 
earning  a  quarter  here  and  fifty  cents  there 
till  she  struck  this  new  business. 

Well,  it  got  round  about  her  taking  down 
Antoinette  Henbury  and  all  to  once  she 
come  to  be  awful  poplar  in  the  towns  round 
there  and  finally  as  fur  off  as  Boston  (there's 
lots  of  former  Chictooseters  lives  in  Bos- 
126 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ton).  Once  somebody  told  her  that  she'd 
always  ought  to  look  out  for  the  main 
chance,  and  she  says,  "There  aint  no  Maine 
chance,  or  why  would  I  come  to  Massa 
chusetts?" 

She  makes  a  lot  of  sech  talk  but  I  know 
she  wouldn't  marry  the  best  man  ever  was. 
When  the  preacher'd  ben  talking  about 
there  not  being  in  Heaven  any  marridge 
or  giving  in  marridge  she  says  that  as  fur 
as  it  concerned  her  there  wouldn't  be  a  great 
sight  of  differance  between  this  world  and 
the  next! 

Mr.  Spinney  says  that  if  her  business 
wasn't  a  private  one  so  she  advertises  it  best 
by  keeping  still  about  it  it  would  best  be 
expressed  on  her  card  as  "Reducer  of  Ty 
rants." 

In  a  good  many  famblies  there's  a  tyrant 
that  is  worse  than  Nerow,  or  any  of  them 
histerry  tyrants  because  you  can't  get  quit 
of  them.  Sometimes  it's  the  father.  It 
used  to  be  the  father  up  to  Squire  Henbury's 
127 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

and  I  can  see  poor  little  Mrs.  Henbury 
now,  tremling  all  over  when  he  hollered  at 
her  and  she  hadn't  done  a  thing.  Jest  as 
often  it's  the  woman  of  the  house  and  the 
poor  hen-pecked  husband  dreads  nothing 
so  much  as  his  own  fireside  where  he  hadn't 
ought  to  have  nothin  but  loving  words  and 
newspapers  and  carpet  slippers.  Worse 
than  all  he's  an  objeck  of  ridicule,  which 
the  down-trod  woman  never  is.  Then  again 
p'raps  it's  a  young  one  that  has  ben  give 
in  to  so  much  they  keep  the  whole  house 
hold  in  an  uproar  and  there  aint  no  peace 
for  anybody. 

Well,  Lyddy  says  it  has  always  made  her 
blood  sizzle  to  see  how  the  rest  of  the  fam- 
bly  would  stand  it  and  think  they  have  got 
to  stand  it. 

"They  have  got  to  stand  it,"  I  says,  re 
membering  how  it  used  to  be  at  the  Squire's 
and  mentioning  some  of  the  scenes  to  her. 

"I  wish  I'd  ben  there,"  she  says  with  a 
glint  in  her  eye. 

128 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

She  was  staying  a  few  days  at  Andrew 
Perkins's  once  and  that  Luhannah  Perkins 
that  want  but  3  years  old  was  jest  about 
driving  them  crazy.  She  had  got  her 
stomach  out  of  kilter  eating  vittles  she 
haddn't  ought  to  and  then  had  to  be  hu 
mored  because  she  was  sickly.  They 
thought  they  had  to  give  in  to  her  because 
she  straightened  herself  out  and  yelled  like 
all  possessed  if  they  didn't.  Andrew  had 
got  to  having  nervous  headaiks  that  impli 
cated  his  work  and  things  was  in  pretty  bad 
shaip  when  Lyddy  went  there.  They  didn't 
think  it  was  right  to  chastise  her  but  Lyddy 
has  got  the  old-fashioned  belief  in  the  lay 
ing  on  of  hands. 

She  made  Mrs.  Perkins  go  off  on  a  visit 
(nobody  else  could  have  done  it  so  that  was 
skilled  labor)  and  she  soon  fixed  it  so  that 
Andrew  wan't  afraid  to  say  "no"  for  fear 
of  a  rumpus.  He  talks  now  about  the  time 
when  he  used  to  have  them  terrible  head 
aiks  and  Luhannah  is  wiping  dishes  for  her 
129 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

mother  at  the  tendar  age  of  4,  and  doing 
light  chores  besides.  Mrs.  Perkins  give 
Lyddy  a  pretty  good  sum  on  the  sly,  and  An 
drew  passed  out  about  the  same  amount  on 
another  sly,  but  she  earned  every  single  cent 
of  it.  She  admits  sech  things  take  it  out 
of  her. 

Soon  afterwards  she  was  invited  to  the 
Lanes'.  Jake  Lane  hadn't  ben  married  a 
year  yet  and  that  pretty  little  wife  of  his 
that  made  you  think  of  a  bright  pretty  bird 
when  she  went  there  to  live  looks  like  she'd 
ben  drawed  through  7  cities  and  a  not-hole. 
It's  Jake's  mother,  a  leading  membar  of 
the  church  that's  done  it.  She  jest  wor 
ships  Jake  and  it  stands  to  reason  it  would 
hurt  her  feelings  to  see  him  all  wrapped 
up  in  somebody  else,  but  she  hadn't  ought 
to  take  it  all  out  on  little  Elviny.  If  old 
Mrs.  Lane  had  lived  seperet  it  would  have 
ben  better,  but  live  seperet  she  wouldn't. 
She  was  going  to  live  along  of  her  boy  same 
as  she  had  always  done.  Well,  she  prose- 
130 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

cuted  poor  Elviny  in  a  hundred  little  ways. 
She  wouldn't  let  her  do  no  work  and  then 
jawed  her  because  she  had  to  do  it  all;  and 
she  twitted  her  about  her  folks,  and  that 
jest  about  broke  the  poor  little  thing's  heart. 
She  was  jest  puning  and  fading  away  when 
Jake  asked  Lyddy  there  for  a  visit.  Her 
strenth  laid  in  the  fack  that  she  wan't  afraid 
of  anybody  and  she  didn't  care  a  tunket 
what  they  said  to  her.  She  says  she  was 
born  with  an  armer  on. 

She  begun  to  twit  Mrs.  Lane  about  her 
folks  right  before  Elviny  and  to  praise  up 
Elviny's  folks.  Then  she  asked  her  (El 
viny)  if  she  hadn't  ever  felt  no  vane  regrets 
after  that  rich  widower  that  offered  himself 
to  her;  and  said  she  could  now  be  living  in 
stile  if  she  took  him  with  a  hired  man,  and 
an  otto  and  all  the  lugsuries  of  the  season. 
Then  she  introduced  Jake  to  put  the  house 
in  Elviny's  name  and  give  her  a  blowing 
up  for  being  so  meaching  and  letting  Jake's 
mother  make  it  so  hard  for  him.  She  knew 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

how  far  to  go  in  every  direction.  Elviny 
mustn't  get  up  too  much  spunk  and  her 
mother-in-law  mustn't  be  let  to  feel  as  if 
she  wan't  nothing  any  more  to  her  boy. 
All  them  deliket  points  was  fully  consid- 
dered  and  by  the  end  of  2  months  she'd 
about,  as  she  said,  "established  the  ballance 
of  power."  Mrs.  Lane  has  jest  writ  her 
how  proud  she  is  of  Elviny's  sponge  cake, 
and  that  it  ackchelly  goes  ahead  of  hers 
though  she  learnt  her  to  make  it  by  her 
rule.  And  it  will  be  into  a  very  peacefull 
and  loving  household  that  any  little  stranger 
will  come  somewheres  along  the  last  of  the 
winter  or  early  spring.  Between  them  all 
she  says  she  got  45$  besides  her  board. 

She  lets  domestic  sufferers  know  of  her 
business  on  the  quiet  and  she  has  got  more 
orders  than  she  can  fill. 

She  makes  a  speciality  of  women  that 

puts  on  airs  and  brags  about  their  close  and 

their  sassiety  doings  when  they  go  out  to 

lunchings  and  dinners.     The  woman  of  the 

132 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

house  can't  take  down  company,  but  Lyddy, 
who  is  also  company  can  do  it  and  she  does. 
When  they  brag  she  brags,  too,  and  goes 
them  one  better.  Sometimes  she  suddintly 
changes  the  convasation,  as  if  she  was  sick 
and  tired  of  hearing  of  their  doings  and 
havings.  That  is  awful  cutting,  though  it's 
what  they've  ben  doing  themselves,  and 
most  probbly  they  hate  her  for  it.  She  says 
the  lady  of  the  house  is  supposed  to  make 
it  up  to  her. 

She  showed  us  her  little  book  where  she 
has  got  6  dinners  and  7  lunchings  engaged. 
One  paytron  says  she  had  stood  the  sar 
casms  of  a  woman  she  had  to  invite  to  her 
house  for  her  husband's  business  reasons  till 
she  was  sometimes  jes  ready  to  throw  the 
coffee-pot  at  her;  and  the  slick  way  Lyddy 
answered  her  back  done  the  whole  tablefull 
good,  and  they  all  said  they  wouldn't  of 
missed  it  for  anything. 

So  no  more  at  pressent. 

Your  true  freind,       Jennie  Allen. 
133 


XVI 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

We  had  a  beautiful  time  Sunday  after 
noon  in  the  park.  If  it  had  happened  be 
fore  Jamesy  was  called  home  it  would  of 
ben  the  happyest  day  of  all  my  life.  When 
Bub  and  Gussy  and  me  was  about  ready  to 
start  out  Mr.  Spinney  happened  to  come 
down  stares  and  was  awful  surprised  we 
was  going  to  the  park. 

"Why!"  he  says;  "my  steps  is  bent  in  the 
same  derection  and  if  agreeable  to  all,  the 
same  fleet  charriot  shall  convey  us  thither." 
And  he  took  each  of  the  boys  by  the  ear  and 
pulled  them  out  the  door.  The  weather 
was  lovely.  All  nacher  seamed  to  smile 
and  it  would  of  been  a  poor  mizzable  set 
of  creachers  that  wouldent  smile  back. 
Praps  it  was  smiling  in  derision.  We  are 
a  funny  lot,  any  way  you  take  us.  But  any- 
134 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

way  it  smiled.  The  little  boys  was  in  sech 
sperrits  they  couldent  hardly  contain  them 
selves.  Mr.  Spinney  said  he  didn't  know 
whether  it  was  because  they  was  too  large 
or  too  small.  They  are  growing  fast  in 
both  lattytude  and  longytude  and  Mr.  Spin 
ney  inquired  as  he  looked  admiring  at  them, 
if  the  problem  of  the  descending  paternal 
Wardrobe  dident  grow  more  difficult  as 
time  wore  on.  "Yes,"  I  says,  "but  I've 
been  able  to  cope  with  it  so  fur  and  I  aint 
worrying  about  the  futur.  Bub  will  be  old 
enough  to  sell  papers  between  schools  and 
buy  first-hand  trousers  for  himself  by  the 
time  the  baby  will  be  ready  for  a  small 
section  of  Jim's.  I  always  notice  the  great 
Teacher  don't  send  problems  we  can't  work 
out  if  we  try  hard  enough." 

When  we  got  into  the  car  Mr.  Spinney 
says  to  Bub,  "Do  you  still  hold  the  contrack 
for  removing  pealings  from  public  places? 
because  if  you  do  there's  one  now  for  you 
to  attend  to." 

135 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Where?"  says  Bub,  looking  around,  "I 
don't  see  it." 

"Neither  do  I.  It's  the  pealing  of  the 
bells."  Everybody  in  the  car  laughed, 
even  a  disagreeable  looking  woman  in  the 
corner  that  hadent  looked  caperble  of  sech 
a  thing.  What  he  says  dont  sound  funny 
wrote  down  but  its  the  quick,  cute,  unresist- 
ible  way  he  speaks  em.  I  believe  he  could 
read  a  chapter  of  Jerry  Myer  so  you  would 
bust  right  out  alaughing.  He  don't  do  it 
to  show  off,  eather.  He  jest  can't  help  it. 
We  was  lucky  enough  to  have  sech  good 
compenny  on  our  trip  but  I  thought  how 
much  happyer  he  would  be  if  Ellen  was 
along.  When  I  said  so  to  him  and  told 
him  I  wisht  she  was  with  us  he  sobered 
right  down  and  dident  make  no  reply.  My 
heart  aiked  for  him. 

When  we  got  to  the  park  it  was  all  so 
beautiful  I  cried  out,  "Oh,  aint  it  jest  like 
Paradise!" 

"Look  here!"  says  Bub;  "let's  make  be- 
136 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

leave  it  is  Paradise  and  you  two  is  Adam 
and  Eve  and  me  and  Gus  is  Cain  and 
Able." 

That  pleased  Mr.  Spinney  but  he  re 
minded  him  that  Cain  and  Able  hadn't 
never  been  in  Paradise. 

"Then  how  could  it  have  been  Paradise 
to  them?"  I  says.  "Eve  must  of  been  hap- 
pyer  after  she  had  her  boys  than  she  was 
befoar — that  is  till  Cain's  crime.  She 
couldent  of  had  any  regrets  for  Paradise 
before  that  happened."  Mr.  Spinney  says, 
"I  never  thought  of  it  before  but  who  could 
they  trace  Cain's  cussedness  back  to?  Adam 
couldent  say  to  his  wife,  "He  got  it  from 
your  side  of  the  house,"  and  vicy  vercer. 
It  was  the  only  case  where  a  bad  man's  ac 
tions  couldent  be  hove  off  onto  some  an 
cestor  on  the  other  side." 

Well,  we  walked  along,  the  boys  caper 
ing  around,  punching  each  other  for  fun 
and  dodging  and  laughing.  When  we  come 
to  a  lovely  grove  Mr.  Spinney  motioned  to 

137 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

a  little  rustic  seat  asaying,  "Let's  set  down 
here  together — Eve." 

"There's  some  longer  ones,"  I  says, 
"where  you  can  have  more  room.  Why 
not  take  one  of  them?" 

"They  don't  afford  jest  the  same  view." 
I  dident  see  no  diffrance  in  the  view  but  I 
set  down  on  the  one  he  seleckted. 

"Besides,"  he  added,  "it  aint  room  I'm 
athinking  of.  There's  other  things  besides 
room  in  this  world." 

"Yes,  there's  board.  That  has  to  be 
thought  of." 

"Miss  Allen,"  he  says,  in  a  tone  of  dis- 
pare,  "a  continoous  and  exclusive  rappar 
environment  has  took  all  sentiment  out  of 
your  soul.  It  is  well  I  have  brought  you 
for  one  breef  hour  to  a  rapparless  world. 
Look  around  you!  behold  the  vast  blue  fir- 
nament  above  you!  clouds  there,  if  you  will, 
but  no  rappars.  The  trees  in  all  their  Ver- 
during  beauty  stands  around  us  innocent  of 
rappars.  The  little  birds  soaring  skyward 

138 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

have  never  heard  of  a  rappar  in  all  their 
happy  little  lives.  Their  pretty  songs  con 
vey  no  note  of  rappars  and  the  worm  within 
their  bills  when  it  turns  as  we  are  told  it 
does  at  rare  intervals,  sees  not  a  rappar  in 
all  the  sky  or  landerscrape.  The  sward 
beneath  your  feat  is  gemmed  with  flowers 
but  not  with  wrappers.  Look  down  as 
closely  as  you  will  you  cannot  decern  the 
tiniest  tender  shoot  of  a  budding  rappar 
abusting  through  the  brown  mould.  With 
the  splendid  autumn  air,  we  breathe  in  no 
rappars.  You  are  now  in  a  world  in  which 
there  is  no  rappars,  nor  giving  in  rappars 
and  'twas  I  that  brought  you  here!" 

His  voice  was  getting  louder  and  louder 
and  he  made  all  Kinds  of  jesters,  pointing 
around.  I  was  awful  scared  because  I 
thought  his  intellecks  was  unhinged  from 
worry  about  his  mother  and  the  way  Ellen 
was  treating  him.  I  tried  to  carm  him 
down  by  telling  him  she  had  asked  me  only 
the  day  before  how  he  was  getting  along. 

139 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I  hadent  told  him  before  for  fear  of  giving 
him  too  much  encouridgement.  But  now, 
says  I,  anything  to  soothe  and  moderate  him 
down.  Then  he  laughed  and  inquired  if  I 
hadent  been  acquainted  with  Edward  J. 
Spinney  long  enough  to  know  when  he  was 
fooling.  "But  honest,  Jen,"  says  he,  "Don't 
you  get  everlasting  sick  of  them  rappars?" 

"Why!"  I  says,  not  knowing  yet,  what  to 
make  of  him.  "I  love  the  work.  Most  of 
all  because  I  can  do  'em  to  home  and  be 
with  my  folks  all  the  time.  But  rappars 
themselves  is  clean  and  honest." 

"But  not  uplifting." 

"That's  what  they  are  more  than  any 
thing  else,"  I  cried; — "anyway  to  me. 
When  I  set  sewing  on  them  the  most  beauti 
ful  thoughts  comes  to  me — thoughts  about 
mother  and  Jamesy  and  heaven — thoughts 
about  how  I  can  do  something  to  help  peo 
ple  the  very  most  I  can,  even  if  its  nothin 
more  than  tying  a  woman's  shoe  in  the 
streat  that  is  too  fat  to  get  down.  I  aint 
140 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

got  much  money  to  give  away.  I  turn 
everything  right  into  the  fambly  new.  But 
it  aint  what  you  give.  It's  what  you've  got 
left  after  you  give  that  tells  the  story." 

"If  you  happened  to  have  the  change 
about  you,"  he  says,  "you  would  give  away 
horspittles  and  liberrys  every  day  like  any 
other  fillanthropist,  wouldent  you?" 

"Yes,"  I  says,  "with  considderable  lean 
ing  towards  horspittles.  It  looks  some 
times  like  people  read  too  much.  They 
aint  satisfied  without  they  are  holding  a 
book  or  magazeen  in  their  hands  all  the 
time.  I  should  think  their  minds  would  be 
so  crammed  with  other  folks  thoughts  there 
wouldent  be  no  room  for  any  of  their  own. 
I  wonder  what  we  would  be  like  if  we 
wasent  hampered  by  sentuaries  of  second 
hand  thoughts  and  opinions.  Childern  has 
too  many  ideas  foarced  into  them  and  they 
fill  up  the  spaces  where  their  own  ideas  is 
trying  to  take  root.  We  aint  got  no  right 
to  do  that.  Every  one  has  got  a  right  to 
141 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

their  brain  room  same  as  they  have  to  their 
house-room.  If  we  fill  it  up  with  our  own 
notions  we  had  ought  to  pay  rent.  And  the 
rent  ought  to  be  so  high  almost  nobody 
could  afford  to  pay  it.  But  I  was  going  to 
say  if  I  could  ever  give  away  liberrys  (and 
I  dont  quite  see  my  way  to  it  at  the  pressant 
writing)  I  would  fill  them  with  nice  senca- 
ble  books — not  them  that  would  devilate 
the  mind  nor  even  sillify  it.  The  sillifica- 
tion  of  a  human  mind  produced  by  light 
reading  in  exsess  is  almost  as  bad  as  its 
Devilation." 

"Do  you  ever  think  of  people  as  being 
like  books?"  says  Mr.  Spinney. 

"Many's  the  time.  And  even  there 
there's  too  much  reading.  Sasiety  peaple 
see  and  read  too  many  human  books  and 
don't  get  the  chanst  to  learn  or  love  anyone 
of  them  thorough.  Some  has  beautiful 
bindings  but  aint  nothing  but  blank  books. 
Some  (they  are  nowels)  is  nothing  but 
lover's  quarrels  clear  through." 
142 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Them  is  scrap  books,"  he  says  gravely. 

"I  often  think  in  church  we  folks  is  a 
liberry,"  I  says.  "There's  books  we've 
never  opened — them  is  uttar  strangers. 
There's  books  we've  read  a  little  in  hear  and 
there — them  is  slight  acquaintances.  Then 
there's  books  we've  read  through.  I've 
read  you  through,  and  Ellen  and  Miss  Mus- 
grove  and  Mr.  Oglevie.  As  for  Sis  and  the 
boys  I've  helped  write  them,  though  I  sup 
pose  I  had  no  business  to.  All  of  these 
books  I  like  and  I  can  recommend." 

"Don't  you  think,"  says  Mr.  Spinney, 
"that  I  would  sillily  the  mind?" 

"If  I  was  asked  to  recommend  just  one 
vollume  in  this  libery  of  a  world  I  would 
say,  "Better  take  E.  J.  Spinney.  There's 
life  and  fun  and  strenth  and  goodness  in 
it.  I'm  a  good  deal  better  from  reading  of 
it  and  I  know  you'll  be." 

"Jen,"  he  says,  "if  there  wan't  a  heaven 
already  we'd  have  to  have  one  made  for 
your  accommodation." 

H3 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I'm  used  to  his  jokes  so  I  dident  mind. 

"But  tell  me,"  he  says;  "is  Heaven  so 
very  reel  to  you?" 

"Jest  as  reel  as  Australy  or  even  Paw- 
tucket  or  any  place  I've  heard  tell  of  but 
never  seen.  I  couldn't  have  stood  it  when 
Jamesy  was  called  home  if  it  wan't  that  way. 
When  the  minister  was  making  the  remarks 
to  the  funerell  I  kept  asaying  to  myself, 
'He's  with  Mother!  he's  with  Mother!  he's 
with  Mother!'  and  I  pictured  out  jest  how 
she  looked  when  she  took  him  in  her  arms. 
She'd  see  quick  enough  he  was  all  Shattuck. 
I  often  think  that  when  I'm  passing  out 
I  dont  want  no  sad  faces  round,  but  I  wish 
there  would  be  some  one  who  would  sing 
out  loud  and  bright  and  hearty,  "Nex  sta 
tion,  Heaven !"  And  I  don't  know  of  any 
body  else  that  could  say  it  the  way  I  mean 
but  you.  It  sounds  jest  like  you.  Of 
course  nobody  in  the  fambly  could  say  it. 
They  would  be  too  low-sperrited." 

He  turned  quick  and  looked  down  at  me. 
144 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"And  do  you  think  I  could  do  it,  Jennie? 
Don't  you  think  I  would  be  low-sperrited 
too?"  Then  he  laughed  and  said,  "I'll 
do  it  Jen,  and  there's  my  hand  on  it.  I'd 
like  to  do  better  than  that  and  go  with  you 
— anyway  as  far  as  the  junction  where  our 
ways  divide." 

As  if  I  could  leave  him  at  the  junction. 
While  we  was  talking  the  sun  had  begun 
to  set  and  now  the  whole  sky  in  the  west 
was  a  blaze  of  Glory.  It  seamed  so  much 
like  the  Heaven  we  had  been  talking  about 
(it  was  all  crimsen  and  perple  and  gold) 
and  my  thoughts  had  been  so  fur  away  from 
earth  as  I  set  there  that  it  wouldent  have 
seamed  so  very  strange  if  I  had  caught  a 
sight  of  Jamesey's  roagish  face  between  the 
bright  bars  or  Mother's  patient  one  asmil- 
ing  at  me.  Everything  around  us  was  still. 
He  had  forgot  to  let  go  of  my  hand  and 
praps  he  was  making  beleave  I  was  Ellen 
because  it  was  pretty  dark.  For  my  part 
I  made  beleave  I  was  Ellen,  too.  After 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

a  long  time,  a  beautiful  time,  I  says,  "I 
wish  Ellen  was  here  instead  of  me." 

He  dropped  my  hand,  reminded  that  it 
wan't  hers.  "Would  you  like  to  see  Ellen 
Hennersy  and  me  married,  Jennie?"  he 
says. 

I  thought  a  minnit  so  I  could  be  sure  I 
was  saying  it  truthful  and  then  I  says  "Yes, 
more  than  anything  else  in  this  world." 

"Come,"  he  says,  as  he  riz  up  slowly; 
"let's  go  home." 

I  had  forgot  about  the  little  boys.  We 
looked  around  but  they  was  nowheres  to  be 
seen.  Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


146 


XVII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  thank  you  kindly  for  your  nice  letter. 
I  had  rather  have  one  of  your  letters  than 
a  pressant  You  say  I  left  off  too  sudden 
about  our  trip  to  the  park.  I  dident  have 
no  more  paper.  Now  I  have  got  me  a  nice 
new  tablet  that  is  jest  fine,  the  lines  is  all 
so  distinck.  And  along  these  lines  I  can 
say  our  coming  home  was  the  best  of  all. 
The  boys  wanted  to  walk  and  what  did  we 
all  do  but  walk.  It  was  a  lovely  evening 
and  we  dident  any  of  us  get  tuckered  out 
The  plannet  Juniper  was  as  bright  as  a 
butten.  The  stars  from  a  child  has  always 
looked  to  me  like  little  brass  buttens  and  it 
is  verry  hard  to  considdar  they  are  in- 
habitted.  Mr.  Spinney  said  that  Juniper 
was  12  times  the  size  of  the  earth  and  only 
resolves  with  half  of  its  ferocity.  But  I 
H7 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

dont  take  much  interest  in  sech  things  and 
it  is  hard  for  me  to  remember  about  them. 
It  is  wonderful  how  much  he  knows  on 
every  subjeck  there  is.  Sometimes  it  seams 
as  if  his  head  must  bust. 

I  forgot  to  say  that  where  the  little  boys 
was  when  we  couldent  find  them,  they  was 
fighting  with  another  little  boy  they  had 
picked  up  acquaintence  with.  It  was  all 
over  and  Bub  had  washed  his  face  at 
the  founten  when  we  found  them.  We 
wouldent  have  known  nothing  about  it  only 
there  was  a  streak  of  blood  around  his  nose 
so  we  asked  who  he  had  been  fighting  with. 
"How  did  you  know  about  it?"  he  inquired. 

"My  boy,"  says  Mr.  Spinney,  "blood  will 
tell."  Then  I  told  him  how  him  getting 
hurt  was  a  punishment  for  fighting  on  the 
Sabbath  day  and  I  knew  he  would  never 
dair  to  do  sech  a  thing  again. 

"Huh!"  says  Bub;  "when  a  feller  comes 
up  and  pulls  your  hair  how  can  you  stop 
to  think  what  day  of  the  week  it  is?" 
148 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Mr.  Spinney  talked  beautiful  all  the  way 
home,  about  the  stars  and  the  grandure  of 
the  night  and  your  soul.  He  recited  off 
some  poetry,  that  he  had  made  up  himself 
and  said  a  serten  good  unselfish  little  woman 
had  inspired  it.  I  can't  see  what  Ellen  is 
thinking  off.  Any  one  can't  imagine  Dinny 
Caffretty  writing  poetry.  The  buildings 
was  all  black  against  the  sky  and  Mr. 
Spinney  pointed  out  a  tall  pole  that  ap 
peared  to  be  near  a  church  spire  and  said 
it  was  a  wireless  telegraft  pole.  "So's  the 
spire,  too,"  says  Gussy.  "That's  from 
where  our  messages  goes  up  to  Heaven!" 
Wasn't  that  a  pretty  thought  of  Gussy's? 

This  afternoon  Gussy  was  looking  out  of 
the  back  winder  when  all  to  once  he  yelled 
to  Bub,  "Look!  there's  our  park  man."  We 
run  to  the  winder  jest  in  time  to  see  a  tall 
dark  complected  misterious  man  shaking 
his  finger  warningly  at  Gussy  with  black 
whiskers  that  disappeared  round  the  corner. 
Of  course  we  asked  the  boys  then  who  their 
149 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

park  man  was  and  they  told  us  he  was  the 
one  that  seperated  Bub  when  he  was  fight 
ing  and  helped  him  to  wash  up  and  carm 
down  afterwoods.  Then  when  they  was 
unwrapping  their  Lunching  he  come  round 
again  and  set  down  with  them.  All  they 
had  was  2  biskets  and  2  apples  but  Bub 
says,  "Gus,  let's  give  him  I  bisket  and  i 
apple  and  we  can  harve  the  other  for  us. 
He's  biggar  than  us  and  requiers  more 
food."  They  done  so  and  they  all  et  to 
gether.  He  says  "Seems  to  me  this  is  kind 
of  dry  fodder  for  you,"  and  Gussy  says, 
"Yes,  our  sandwiches  ain't  got  butter  or 
anything  between  them  because  we've  had 
a  party." 

"A  party  I"  he  says;  "and  was  it  a  pretty 
good  party?" 

The  best  that  ever  was  in  this  world,  they 
said;  and  then  they  told  him  all  about  it 
and  how  we  come  to  have  it.  "He  was 
holding  Gus  on  one  knee"  says  Bub,  "and 
me  on  the  other  and  we  both  talked  so  fast 
150 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

he  says,  "There,  there!  one  to  a  time  please." 
And  he  asked  us  a  lot  of  questions  about 
where  we'd  put  Mrs.  Sawyer's  silver  and  all 
the  other  things  and  he  laughed  and  laughed 
when  we  told  him  we  dident  sleep  very  com- 
ferable  on  account  of  some  of  it  being  be 
tween  all  the  mattresses  and  some  of  it 
packed  in  the  oven  nights  and  about  me 
berrying  the  littlest  spoons  in  the  rubber 
plant  pot  and  making  believe  I  was  Capten 
Kid  berrying  my  traysure.  And  he  wanted 
to  know  if  we  used  a  bacement  door  and  if 
the  back  porch  door  was  locked  up  nights." 

That  was  enough  for  Mame.  She  is  sure 
the  man  is  a  burgler.  It  reely  does  look  so 
myself  but  I  dont  let  on  to  her  that  I  think 
the  man  is  dangersome.  We  have  been 
hard  to  work  shifting  the  vallybles  round 
into  new  places.  Mrs.  Sawyer  said  her  sil 
ver  wasn't  sollid  but  you  would  think  so 
to  heft  it.  It  don't  seem  as  if  there  was  a 
holler  peice  among  it. 

Jim  made  kind  of  a  trap  once  to  catch 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

any  persen  that  tryed  to  get  in  the  back 
door  and  we  are  going  to  make  him  set  it 
for  to-night.  It  is  made  of  iron  with  a 
spring  and  catches  your  foot  when  you  try 
to  get  in  and  steal.  Then  Mame  says  we 
have  got  to  take  turns  setting  up  watching. 
I  choose  the  first  harf  because  Jim  is  so 
tired  out  after  his  day's  work;  and  I  am  go 
ing  to  try  to  keep  awake  the  whole  night 
and  not  have  to  he  releaved  by  anybody  else. 
I  am  afraid  the  burglery  will  be  my  fault 
because  I  had  ought  to  kept  the  boys  with 
me  in  the  park.  I  don't  know  why  I  did- 
ent.  I  never  let  them  out  of  my  sight  be 
fore  when  they  was  with  me. 

Later. 

Jim  has  got  home  and  we  have  told  him 
all  about  the  burgler.  He  looked  pretty 
serious  and  lost  no  time  in  setting  the  trap. 
He  wanted  to  have  the  first  watch  but  I 
told  him  the  eppysode  was  more  likely  to 
come  the  latter  part  of  the  night  and  he 
had  better 'get  in  some  sleep  before  it  come 
152 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

off.  He  asked  if  the  man  was  a  big,  hurley 
feller.  We  said  he  was  big  but  we  wan't 
so  sure  about  the  hurley  part. 

"I'm  sorry,"  he  says;  "because  burglers 
is  allwers  hurley.  It  says  so  in  the  papers 
the  nex  morning.  If  you  could  declare  he 
was  hurley  that  would  prove  what  he  was 
up  to." 

"We  don't  need  no  more  proof,"  says 
Mame.  "He  wormed  all  that  inflamation 
out  of  the  children,  and  besides,  what  did 
he  shake  his  finger  at  Gussy  for?  There's 
another  thing  I'm  sure  of  and  that  is  them 
black  whiskers  is  false  and  is  part  of  his 
disguisement.  Nobody  ever  wore  sech  as 
them  for  any  good  purpuse.  Are  you  sure, 
Jim,  dear,  the  trap  is  in  good  working  con 
dition?" 

"Don't  you  be  alarmed  about  that,"  Jim 
says.  "If  we  catch  a  miscrint  in  that  trap 
to-night,  as  I  hope  to  do,  I'll  make  my  for 
tune  out  of  a  paytent  on  it." 

I  do  hope  even  for  the  burgler's  sake  that 

153 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

he  wont  come  to-night.  It  would  be  terri 
ble  for  anyone  to  be  caught  in  that  wicked 
trap.  I  have  got  harf  a  mind  to  go  down 
when  the  others  is  asleep  and  take  it  away. 
I  would  for  sure  if  I  reely  thought  the  bur- 
gler  was  coming.  The  reason  I  think  he 
aint  is  because  we  all  expect  him.  Things 
like  that  is  allwers  serp rises. 

I  will  close  now  as  the  dark  cloud  of 
danger  and  dread  hovers  over  our  roof 
threttening  with  awful  voice  to  engulf  us 
in  its  deepening  waters.  We  haven  told 
Mandy  nor  the  children  a  thing  about  it. 
Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


154 


XVIII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  am  going  to  tell  you  all  about  last 
night.  After  the  others  had  gone  to  bed,  I 
set  down  with  my  sewing.  It  wan't  long 
before  Mr.  Spinney  come  in  and  asked  if 
there  was  sickness  on  account  of  there  be 
ing  a  light  at  that  late  hour.  I  says  "No," 
and  give  a  full  account  of  our  alarming 
situation.  Then  he  remarked  if  there  was 
going  to  be  ructions  he  wanted  to  be  in  it. 
He  said  he  was  going  to  read  the  evening 
paper  and  if  I  had  no  objexions  he  would 
set  and  keep  me  company  a  spell.  He  read 
out  loud  for  a  while  and  then  when  he  see 
the  work  drop  from  my  hands  and  me  nod 
ding  he  says,  "Poor  little  tired  girl!"  and 
took  my  work  away  and  made  me  get  into 
the  morris  chair.  I  was  jest  drowzing  off 
155 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

when  I  was  dimfully  conscious  that  he  was 
letting  down  the  chair  back  to  make  me 
more  comferable  and  putting  a  cushion 
under  my  head.  I  dropped  off  to  sleep, 
thinking  how  beautiful  it  was  to  have  him 
taking  care  of  me  like  this  and  keeping 
guard  over  us  all,  and  I  dident  know  noth 
ing  more  till  I  was  aroused  by  a  howl  of 
anguish  from  below,  follered  by  terrible 
yells  and  then  howl  upon  howl.  I  was 
springing  up  when  Mr.  Spinney  pushed  me 
back  into  the  chair  and  held  me  there  say 
ing,  "Stay  where  you  are!  Quick  1  Prom 
ise  me!"  I  had  to  promise  and  then — I 
might  as  well  tell  you  the  whole  of  it — then 
he  bent  down  and  kissed  me,  and  was  off 
down  the  stairs.  I  saw  the  glint  of  a  revol 
ver  in  his  hand  as  he  run  off,  but  I  was  so 
dazed  by  his  kiss  I  couldent  think  of  any 
thing  else.  Praps  I  wouldent  ever  see  him 
again  alive  but  I'd  had  that  kiss.  I  thought 
that  is  where  the  past  is  better  than  the  fu 
ture.  You've  got  your  past,  nothing  can 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

take  it  away,  but  sometimes  you  dont  dare  to 
hope  anything  for  the  future.  I  knew  what 
that  kiss  meant.  He  thought  he  might  be 
going  to  his  death  and  in  that  way  he  bid 
good-by  to  all  his  friends,  most  of  all,  per 
haps,  to  his  Mother.  Well,  she  shouldent 
miss  him  too  much  while  I  lived.  I  vowed 
that  then  and  there.  By  this  time  all  the 
f  ambly  was  up  and  flying  round.  The  hol 
lering  down  stairs  had  stopped,  moderating 
down  to  a  few  groans  at  the  finish  and  now 
all  was  still.  Jim  had  gone  down  though 
Mame  had  held  on  to  him  and  beged  him  to 
stay  with  her.  That  silance  was  terrible. 
We  dident  know  what  it  meant.  Mame 
was  white  and  wild  and  Mandy  was  shaking 
like  an  asking  leaf.  I  went  to  the  head  of 
the  stairs  and  lissened.  Not  a  sound.  I 
opened  the  door  to  go  down  and  I  saw  3 
men  coming  slowly  up.  The  burgler  was 
in  the  middle,  still  groaning  and  mutter 
ing  and  the  2  other  men  was  on  both  sides 
of  him,  helping  him  tenderly  along.  They 

157 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

brought  him  right  into  the  room  and  dis- 
possited  him  carefully  into  the  morris 
chair,  and  as  he  leaned  back  he  mumbled, 
"Great  mistake  of  mine,  this  trying  to  be 
benevolent,"  follered  by  a  groan  that  made 
your  blood  run  cold.  As  soon  as  the  little 
boys  caught  sight  of  his  black-whiskered 
face  they  rushed  straight  into  his  arms.  He 
cuddled  them  down  and  stroked  Gussy's 
curls  as  we  took  off  his  shoe  and  stocking. 
They  asked  me  how  the  anarchy  bottle  hap 
pened  to  be  so  handy  undar  the  couch  along 
with  old  linen  for  bandages  but  they  dident 
wait  for  no  answer,  they  was  so  excited. 
Nobody  noticed  that  the  revolver  was  alay- 
ing  right  on  the  table  in  reach  of  the  burgler 
and  I  took  it  and  hid  it  away.  Mr.  Spinney 
brought  a  tub  of  warm  water  for  his  foot 
and  while  he  was  bathing  it  Jim  said  he'd 
bring  up  "the  hamper."  He  looked  awful 
sheepish  when  he  come  back  and  set  the 
big  stilish-looking  basket  beside  his  chair. 
The  burgler  was  laying  back^  very  white, 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

with  his  eyes  closed,  but  his  arms  was  still 
close  about  the  boys.  Jim  quietly  took  a 
card  offen  the  basket  handle  and  passed  it 
round  for  us  to  read.  It  said, 

"For  the  2  little  chaps  that  shared  all 
they  had  with 

A  Stranger." 

For  a  while  no  one  spoke.  Then  Jim 
says,  "What  be  we  agoing  to  say  to  this 
gentleman?"  Another  silance  while  Mame 
tried  to  keep  from  crying.  Finally  she  put 
out  her  hand  to  him.  "I'm  their  mother," 
she  says.  "Can  you  forgive  us?"  He  took 
her  hand  and  held  it  a  moment,  then  said 
with  a  laugh  that  showed  a  handsome  row 
of  white  teeth  between  the  black  whiskers, 
"Let's  have  another  party,  and  I  will  be 
the  entertainer."  He  reached  down  and 
opened  the  basket.  "Oh!!!"  was  all  the 
children  could  say.  There  was  the  most 
beautiful  of  all  kinds  of  toys  and  books. 
Best  of  all  to  the  boys  was  the  train  of  cars 
with  its  long  track.  Their  mother  let  them 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

stay  up  enough  longer  to  see  it  wound  up 
and  going  once,  then  they  scampered  off  to 
bed,  after  they  had  given  the  burgler  a 
fectionated  good-night  kiss. 

After  they  had  gone  Jim  says  to  the  bur 
gler  (he  wan't  a  burgler  at  all  but  we 
didn't  know  what  else  to  call  him  then) 
Jim  says  to  him,  "I  ain't  much  for  talking, 
but  I  guess  you  must  know  how  we  feel 
about  this.  If  you  are  laid  up  with  your 
foot  you  aint  got  to  worry  about  nurse's 
bills  nor  doctor's  bills — I  can  tell  you  that. 
But  the  rest  of  it  I  cant  tell  you.  It's  too 
deep  down."  Then  Mame  piped  up.  "We 
want  you  to  stay  here  till  your  foot  is  well," 
she  says,  "if  it  takes  a  year.  If  you  lose 
work  by  it  we'll  do  what  we  can  to  make  it 
right." 

"While  you  are  going  without  butter 
and  eggs  and  sugar?  How  are  you  going 
to  manage  it?" 

"Oh!  that's  only  till  the  month  is  out. 
We  can  manage  it  all  right,"  and  him  and 
1 60 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Mame  exchanged  a  knowing  look.  They 
had  some  money  laid  by  for  a  rainy  day, 
and  this  was  a  flood. 

The  burglar  asked  if  he  was  to  share  the 
boys'  bed  like  the  Tortrum  lad  but  Jim 
told  him  he  was  in  no  condition  that  night 
to  perform  the  climbing  stunt  that  re 
quired,  so  he  was  going  to  sleep  in  state  on 
the  parlor  sofy. 

Mame  asked  if  his  folks  wouldn't  worry 
about  him;  and  his  face  was  awful  sad 
when  he  says,  "I  aint  got  any  folks  to 
worry  about  me;  I  haven't  a  tie  in  the 
world." 

"Then  Jim  will  lend  you  one  of  his," 
cries  Mandy. 

"I'll  lend  you  all  of  mine,"  puts  in  Jim. 

You'd  have  thought  the  burgler  would 
of  ben  kind  of  affected  by  this,  because  it 
was  plain  to  see  what  Jim  meant,  which 
was  he  was  welcome  to  what  we  could  all 
do  for  his  comfort;  but  he  didn't  seem  to 
pay  any  attention  to  it,  and  Mr.  Spinney 
161 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

thought  it  was  because  he  was  too  hardened. 
But  I  told  him  it  was  on  account  of  him  not 
being  used  to  kindness  so  he  didn't  know 
it  when  it  come.  "He's  going  to  know  it 
now,  though,"  I  says.  "He  has  had  some 
awful  sorrer  and  we're  all  going  to  try  to 
lighten  it  while  he's  here.  And  we  are 
going  to  depend  to  a  great  excess  on  you," 
I  added,  "for  nobody  can  make  folks  for 
get  their  troubles  like  you  can." 

"I  guess,"  he  makes  answer  in  a  kind  of 
a  bitter  tone,  "that  with  7  or  8  on  the  job 
of  cheering  him  up  there  wont  be  no  need 
of  me  joining  the  crowd." 

I  looked  at  him  in  astonishment.  I 
hadn't  ever  heard  him  speak  like  that  be 
fore,  but  I  set  it  down  to  him  having  un 
derwent  sech  a  terrible  nervable  strain. 

The  burgler  is  close-mouthed  and  re 
served  and  don't  ask  for  sympathy,  but  we 
are  going  to  be  f  reindly  without  him  asking 
us.  He  is  a  man  of  few  words.  When 
Jim  asked  him  when  and  what  we  should 
162 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

call  him  in  the  morning  he  said,  "Eight 
o'clock  and  Jason." 

So  we  all  call  him  Jason.  He  said  to 
day  if  he  give  a  sir  name  it  wouldn't  be  the 
right  one  and  he  preferred  not  to  lie  to  us. 
Mame  says  that  shows  he  is  fleeing  from 
justice  but  as  long  as  he  is  in  our  house  we 
will  proteck  him,  especially  as  he  is  prob 
ably  innocent  of  the  crime  he  has  com 
mitted.  He  has  jest  set  round  all  day  very 
quiet  with  his  foot  in  a  chair  and  not  show 
ing  much  annimation  excep  when  the  boys 
is  round.  They  hang  round  him  all  the 
time  and  don't  seem  to  be  a  bit  afraid  of 
him  same  as  the  rest  of  us  is  desposed  to  be. 
They  pull  his  whiskers  so  hard  without 
pulling  them  off  that  Mame  gives  in  that 
they  must  be  indigernous  after  all. 

I  have  kep  from  telling  you  so  fur  about 
something  that  has  afflicted  me  unpleas 
antly.  I  know  you  will  think  I  am  foolish 
but  it  is  a  releaf  to  tell  it  to  some  one. 

I    have    rassled   with   it   in   prayer   but 
163 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

there's  times  when  we  need  to  confess 
things  to  folks.  I  know  you  wont  never  be- 
leave  any  one  could  be  so  wicked,  but  last 
night  I  wisht  I  had  died — me,  Jennie 
Allen,  that  has  got  folks  and  health  and  a 
home,  and  the  world  so  full  of  things  to 
be  done — I  wisht  I  had  died. 

I  told  you  about  him  putting  his  provi 
sional  good-by  on  my  lips  because  they  was 
the  only  ones  there  when  he  went  to  face 
death  and  danger  in  the  back  Porch.  I 
can't  begin  to  tell  you  the  joy  that  come 
with  it  and  how  everything  that  happened 
afterwoods  seemed  like  a  dream.  It  was 
because  that  kiss  was  so  great  to  me  that  all 
the  rest  dwindled  down  to  almost  nothing 
in  comparison.  It  was  like  a  Last  Sacra 
ment,  it  was  so  sollem  and  full  of  meaning, 
and  I  longed  to  be  aloan  so  I  could  live  it 
all  over  agane.  I  newer  was  so  happy  in 
all  my  life  before.  And  can't  ever  be  so 
happy  agane. 

After  all  the  rest  had  left  the  setting- 
164 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

room  he  came  to  me  and  said,  "Jen,  what 
I  done  before  I  rushed  down  stairs  to 
night  was  on  account  of  me  being  so  excited 
at  the  racket  I  didn't  know  what  I  was 
adoing.  I  had  no  right  to  do  sech  a  thing 
and  I  hope  you'll  forget  it." 

Forget  it!  As  if  I  ever  could!  As  if 
the  whole  aspeck  of  the  world  hadent 
changed  while  he  was  uttaring  them  words. 
That  was  the  time  I  wisht  I  had  died — 
before  he  spoke.  So  the  past  can  be  took 
away  from  you  after  all, — when  the  mean 
ing  of  it  has  been  took  away.  Events  ain't 
anything.  It's  their  meaning  that  counts. 

I  couldent  sleep ;  but  after  I  had  prayed 
the  terrible  pain  settled  down  into  a  stiddy 
aik.  Praps  even  the  aik  will  pass  away  if 
I  don't  cuddle  it  and  make  of  it  too  much. 
I  ain't  ever  going  to  speak  of  it  agane.  It 
ain't  sense.  Jason  is  trying  to  bind  up  his 
foot  alone  and  is  making  a  poor  jorb  of  it. 
So  I  must  go  and  help  him. 

Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 

165 


XIX 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  got  an  awful  scare  about  Ellen  Hen- 
nersy.  Last  night  I  was  down  town  to  take 
home  some  work  and  on  my  way  back  I 
saw  her  coming  out  of  a  drug  store  with  a 
bottle  in  her  hand.  Soon  as  she  ketched 
sight  of  me  she  looked  awful  guilty  and 
hid  it  under  her  cape.  I  wouldent  of 
thought  nothing  of  it  if  she  haddent  looked 
so  kind  of  desperate.  I  hurried  and  caught 
up  with  her;  and  as  we  walked  along  I 
says,  trying  to  be  carm,  "Been  buying  med- 
icin?"  She  had  told  me  she  dident  want 
to  live  no  longer  but  I  never  thought  it 
would  come  to  this. 

"No,  it  aint  medicine  exackly,"  she  says, 
and  begun  to  talk  about  something  else. 
When  we  reached  home  I  coaxed  her  to 
1 66 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

come  into  my  room.  I  told  her  how  she 
mussent  ever  take  no  drugs  without  the  doc- 
ter's  orders  and  even  then  they  must  be 
taken  with  a  grain  of  salt.  "But  I  told  you 
long  ago  that  you  had  ought  to  see  a  doc- 
ter." 

"A  doctor  couldent  do  me  no  good,  Jen." 

"Well,  give  me  the  bottle  for  I  know  the 
contents  aint  good  for  you." 

"Well,"  she  says  as  she  handed  it  out,  "I 
don't  beleive  I  was  agoing  to  use  it  any 
way;  but  the  stuff  has  kind  of  a  fassination 
for  me  and  I  wanted  to  get  aholt  of  it.  It's 
peer  ox  hide  of  hydro,  Jen." 

"Peer  ox  hide  of  hydro?"  I  says  as  I  took 
the  bottle,  "what  for  the  land's  sake  is 
that?" 

Ellen  hung  her  head  like  I  had  never 
see  her  do  before  and  she  says  kind  of 
shamed  like,  "It's  the  stuff  that  cullers  your 
hair  that  lovely  yeller  like  the  demming- 
straighter's  that  has  got  afowl  of  Dinny. 
I've  been  down  to  the  store  lots  of  times. 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

It  seemed  as  if  I  couldent  keep  away,  be 
cause  I  wanted  to  see  what  it  was  that  en 
ticed  Dinny  away.  I  know  now  it's  her 
hair  because  her  face  aint  pretty,  and  I 
thought  if  jest  a  bottle  of  this  made  sech  a 
difference  in  my  life  and  Dinny's  p'raps  it 
wouldent  be  wrong  for  me  to  use  it.  You 
know  pope  said  beauty  draws  us  by  a  single 
hair,  and  how  much  more  if  its  a  beautiful 
golden  one." 

"Did  the  pope  say  that?"  I  says. 

"No,  but  a  man  named  Mr.  Pope." 

But  I  got  Mame  to  look  it  up  in  a  book 
of  cotations  afterwoods  and  she  found  it 
was  Pope,  Alexander.  But  I  never  told 
Ellen  she  was  wrong.  One  way  to  make 
yourself  disagreeable  is  to  explain  to  folks 
that  they  are  wrong. 

"Ellen  Hennersy!"  I  exclaimed;  "you 
that  have  got  the  softest,  lovelyest  black 
hair  that  ever  was,  and  a  spontaneous  pom- 
peydore  besides!  I  would  begrudge  a 
crown  of  reel  gold  that  would  kivver  up 
168 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

that  lovely  head  of  hair.  Aint  you 
ashamed  of  yourself  for  jest  thinking  of 
putting  that  foolish  collering  stuff  on  it?" 

She  hove  a  sithe  that  seemed  to  come 
from  her  very  vitels,  and  says,  "I  wish  every 
one  was  of  your  mind." 

"Well,  I  know  of  one  that  is  and  that  is 
Mr.  Spinney.  We've  heard  him  say  so  a 
dozen  times.  He  wouldent  look  at  a 
woman  with  bleached  hair.  He  has  got 
too  much  good  taste." 

It  cost  me  a  lot  to  say  that — probbly  be 
cause  it  was  my  duty.  Inclination  and  duty 
is  like  two  old  horses  we  had  on  the  farm. 
Inclination — I  mean  Fanny — would  be 
pulling  a  load  as  cheerful  as  if  she  had 
picked  the  way  out  for  herself;  but  when 
they  added  old  Pepper  (so  named  in  deri 
sion  because  he  was  a  low-sperited  plod 
der)  to  help  the  team  along,  she  balked  and 
cut  up  generally,  trying  to  go  some  other 
way.  Old  Pepper  was  hombley  enough, 
too,  to  stand  for  duty.  He  didn'  show  his 
169 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

living.  A  stranger  was  poking  fun  at  him 
once  and  Jim,  feeling  bad  to  hear  his  old 
pet  spoke  of  that  way,  declared  he  had  a 
number  of  good  points. 

"Yes,  I  see  'em  all,"  says  the  stranger. 

Well,  to  go  back  to  Ellen.  When  I  come 
out  with  that  remark  that  was  so  hard  for 
me  to  say,  she  unhitched  Fanny  and  pepper 
for  me  by  saying,  "Jen  dear,  it  wont  ever 
be  any  use  to  talk  that  up  to  me.  I  couldn't 
ever  be  anything  but  a  freind  to  Ed  Spin 
ney  even  if  he  wanted  me  to  which  he  prob- 
berbly  don't.  Any  way  he  never  comes  to 
see  us  though  Mother  has  asked  him  to  be 
neighborly." 

Well,  it  aint  ever  your  duty  to  try  to 
acheave  the  impossible  so  I  hove  a  sithe  of 
relief  at  her  words. 

"Maybe  the  wish  was  father  to  the 
thought,"  she  added. 

"No,  no  relation  at  all.  But,  Ellen, 
there's  others — plenty  of  them.  Now  you 
take  a  little  advice  from  me.  I'm  32  and 
170 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

you  aint  but  19.  Why  don't  you  be  nice 
and  sensible  and  let  the  man  go  that  has 
forgot  about  you  (she  winched  at  this)  and 
take  up  with  one  of  the  others  that  is  sim 
ply  crazy  about  you  and  more  worthy  of  a 
woman's  tender  heart?" 

"Jen,"  she  says,  "you  aint  ever  had  a 
beaux  and  as  fur  as  beauxs  is  concerned,  I 
am  32  and  you  aint  but  19.  I  know  a  man 
is  frequent  more  loving  after  his  affections 
has  took  a  vacation  and  I  feel  all  the  time 
as  if  Dinny  was  coming  back  to  me.  Me 
and  Mother  prays  for  it  every  night.  She 
thinks  the  world  of  him  same  as  I  do." 

"Then  why  don't  you  send  for  him  to 
come  and  see  you?  We  are  recommended 
to  use  human  agencies  to  help  out  our 
prayers  and  the  telephone  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  agencies  known  to  science." 

No,  she  said,  she  would  never  do  that. 
"But,"  she  says,  "I'm  reely  sorry  I  passed 
Dinny  3  times  in  the  street  without  looking 
at  him.     I  wouldn't  do  that  now." 
171 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Oh!"  says  I;  "did  you  do  that?  I 
thought  it  was  all  Dinny's  fault." 

"So  it  was,"  she  says,  "but  I  needn't  have 
done  that.  He  looked  as  if  it  made  him 
feel  bad." 

"I  thought  you  didn't  look  at  him,"  I 
says. 

"Oh!  do  you  suppose  a  girl  has  to  look 
at  a  man  to  see  him?"  says  Ellen. 

I  feel  awful  sorry  for  Ellen's  mother  for 
she  suffers  with  Ellen.  She  has  been  a  good 
kind  freind  to  us  all.  She  is  an  awful  big 
woman  and  you  can't  help  feeling  glad 
there  is  so  much  of  her.  As  I  look  at  it 
there  can't  be  too  much  of  a  woman  like 
Mrs.  Hennersey,  and  she  has  got  a  heart 
big  in  proportion.  If  we  didn't  take  may- 
sures  to  prevent  she  would  use  up  a  couple 
pounds  of  sugar  every  week  making  cookies 
and  doughnuts  for  our  little  boys.  The 
baby  calls  her  Mrs.  Cookey  and  when  Gus- 
sy  is  lost  you  can  most  alwers  find  him  in 
her  kitchen  having  some  light  refresh- 
172 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ments.  When  she  makes  frosting  for  cake 
she  never  forgets  to  give  them  the  dish  to 
clean  out  with  their  spoons  and  she  says 
they  don't  trouble  her  a  bit. 

She  is  first  on  deck  in  time  of  trouble. 
When  Jamesy  was  took  away  and  Mame 
was  using  quieting  portions  so  much  and 
we  was  afraid  she  would  overtake  a  dose  of 
morfeen,  Mrs.  Hennersey  reasoned  with 
her  and  says,  "What  would  dear  little 
Jamesy  say  if  he  was  alive  to-day  and  saw 
his  mother  was  making  herself  into  a  dope 
feind  because  he  had  died.  Wouldn't  you 
be  ashamed?" 

"Yes,"  says  poor  Mame,  "and  I  will  try 
and  bear  it." 

And  she  never  took  another  bit. 

Other  times  when  you're  in  sorrow  she 
don't  try  to  reason  but  she  jest  says 
"There,  there,"  in  sech  soothing  tones  it  is 
better  than  a  sermon  on  resignation.  You 
wouldent  beleive  there  could  be  so  much 
meaning  in  "there,  there/'  till  you  heard 
173 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

her  say  it  to  you  while  she  stroked  your 
hair  and  loked  pitying  at  you. 

She  is  a  fine  singer  but  she  sings  only 
Irish  songs  that  she  learnt,  she  says,  offen 
her  Man  that's  dead  and  gone  three  years 
come  Micklemas.  Since  Ellen  has  been  so 
poorly  her  mother  aint  had  the  heart  to  sing 
but  we  all  used  to  love  to  hear  her  because 
she  got  into  sech  a  gale  of  fun  and  frolic. 
She  would  chuck  back  her  head,  put  her 
hands  on  her  knees,  and  sing  with  all  her 
might  and  main,  laughing  and  keeping 
time  by  pounding  her  feet  on  the  floor. 
Our  favoryte  peice  is  something  like  this: 

"If  all  the  young  girls  was  rushes  agrowin, 
Then  all  the  young  min  would  get  scythes 

and  go  mowin. 

If  all  the  young  girls  was  salmon  so  lively 
Then  niver  a  young  man  would  eat  meat 

on  a  Friday." 

Then  the  chorus  is  the  best  of  all,  and 
sounds  like: 

174 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Ohone,  and  mushlackin,  awhackin,  ohone! 
Ouge,  derrigaa,  Ileen  Malone!" 

or  words  to  that  effeck.  When  she  comes 
to  that  part  she  sings  all  the  louder  and 
whacks  and  pounds  the  floor  till  you  think 
it  is  agoing  through;  and  you  are  having 
sech  a  good  time  you  don't  care  if  it  is.  In 
fack  you  are  so  excited  you  kind  of  wish 
it  would,  and  in  the  last  verse  everybody 
joins  in.  They  can't  help  it.  Even  if  they 
have  never  sung  before,  they  have  got  to 
then.  I  aint  ever  seen  the  man,  woman  or 
child  that  could  set  still  or  silant,  while 
she  sung  that  choruss.  It  puts  the  old  Nick 
into  you  and  you  forget  all  your  troubles 
and  all  you  think  is  you've  got  to  make  all 
the  noise  there  is  and  she  does  it  without 
letting  her  pipe  go  out.  She  is  a  perfeck 
lady. 

Poor  Mr.  Spinney  got  into  kind  of  a 
scraip  about  that  song  the  day  after  he 
heard  it  the  first  time.  He  was  all  carried 
away  with  it  and  begged  her  to  sing  it 

175 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

again  and  again.  Nex  day  he  was  in  our 
part  of  the  house  and  he  couldent  think 
of  the  words  to  2  of  the  verses,  and  we 
couldent  think  of  them  either.  He  kep  a 
trying  to  think  of  them,  and  to  help  along 
he  sung  the  other  verses  and  the  chorus 
same  as  she  done,  whacking  on  his  knees 
and  pounding  on  the  floor  to  keep  time. 
He'd  got  as  far  as  "If  all  the  young  girls 
was  salmon  so  lively,"  and  was  singing  with 
all  his  might  when  the  door  opened  and 
there  stood  Ellen — with  eyes  ablazing  and 
cheeks  as  red  as  fire.  Handsome  was  no 
name  for  it,  but  didn't  she  look  mad!  We 
was  all  scared,  I  tell  you.  Jest  think  of 
being  scared  of  little  Ellen!  She  looked  at 
Mr.  Spinney  and  says,  "You  are  making 
sport  of  my  mother,  are  you?" 

"No,"  he  says  kind  of  weak  like. 

"Yes!"  she  says,  "you  was  setting  her 
out." 

At  last  he  gapsed  out,  "I  wasn't  setting 
176 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

her  out,  Miss  Hennersey,  because  I  got  the 
greatest  respeck  for  your  mother" — but  he 
didn't  get  no  further  because  she  shut  the 
door  then,  and  she  shut  it  pretty  hard  for 
Ellen  Hennersey. 

Well,  you  had  ought  to  see  Mr.  Spin 
ney's  face.  I  suppose  he  would  rather 
offend  anybody  else  in  the  world  than 
Ellen.  "Good  hevvens!"  he  says;  "what 
can  I  do?  I  never  felt  so  small  in  my 
life.  Jest  to  think  of  her  believing  I 
would  make  sport  of  her  mother  espeshally 
after  her  entertaining  me  in  that  tip-top 
style!  She'd  ought  to  know  me  better  than 
that." 

After  we  had  talked  it  over  a  spell  he  in 
quired  how  it  would  do  to  send  the  old 
lady  a  bunch  of  violets  in  the  morning  jest 
to  show  respeck. 

"No,"  I  says,  "they  wouldn't  be  suitable 
for  anybody  her  size  and  shape  it  seems  to 


me." 


177 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Well,  then,"  says  Jim,  "how  does  a 
package  of  fine-cut  with  his  card  enclosed 
strike  you?" 

"Look  here,"  put  in  Mr.  Spinney;  "You 
don't  know  how  I'm  feeling  about  this  or 
you'd  try  to  help  me  out." 

We  agreed  finally  that  we  would  let  it 
go  for  the  pressant.  I  told  him  Ellen  had 
a  quick  temper  but  she  was  soon  over  it; 
and  sech  seemed  to  be  the  case,  for  when 
we  saw  Ellen  again  she  had  appayrently 
forgot  all  about  it. 

But  I  can't  help  thinking  that  triviable 
incident  may  change  their  whole  lives. 
Mr.  Spinney  felt  bad  enough  about  it — 
I  know  that.  O  why  did  not  an  angel 
with  flaming  soard  stand  before  him  that 
fatal  night  to  keep  him  from  singing  the 
song! 

Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


XX 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  thank  you  for  your  letter.  Yes,  Jason 
has  settled  down  with  us  and  is  one  of  the 
fambly  now.  We  have  got  so  used  to  him 
that  we  can't  beleive  he  is  a  fugertive  from 
justiss  any  more,  though  he  never  speaks 
of  his  past.  If  he  has  ever  committed  a 
crime  I  know  he  is  repenitent  for  it  and 
never  calkilates  to  do  likewise  again.  A 
nicer  and  quieter  man  round  the  house  you 
couldent  ask  for.  At  first  he  seemed  to  ab 
sent-minded  to  help  about  the  chores  same 
as  Mr.  Spinney  does  when  he  happens  to 
be  here,  and  I  wouldent  ask  him  for  the 
world — he  seems  so  kind  of  risticrattic.  But 
the  second  day  he  was  here  in  the  late  after 
noon,  Mandy  says  "The  coal  is  out,  Jason." 
"So  I  see,"  he  says,  with  only  what  you 
179 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

might  call  moderit  interest.  (He  hardly 
ever  speaks  ekcep  you  ask  him  a  question, 
and  very  little  of  that.)  Then  she  handed 
him  the  empty  hod.  He  looked  kind  of  be 
wildered  first  at  her,  and  then  at  the  hod. 
Then  he  limped  off  down  stairs  and  fetched 
it  back  full.  When  he  endeavored  to  put 
some  on  the  fire  a  lot  of  it  run  over  on  the 
floor;  but  no  lamb  could  have  got  down  and 
picked  it  up  peice  by  peice  more  pashent 
than  he  done.  Nex  morning  he  asked  if 
he  could  be  of  any  serviss  and  Mandy  set 
him  to  cleaning  the  lamps.  He  made  a 
pretty  bad  mess  of  it,  breaking  two  chim- 
bleys  and  leaving  the  others  worse  than  they 
was  before.  We  dident  want  to  hurt  his 
fealings  by  doing  them  over  again  but  nex 
day  I  got  ahead  of  him  and  done  them  my 
self.  It  aint  no  joke  to  sew  evenings  with 
the  light  struggling  faintly  and  fitfully 
through  a  sooty  chimbly.  A  row  of  clean 
lamps  is  an  awful  pretty  sight  to  me,  with 
the  chimbleys  clear  and  bright  and  shining 
1 80 


Ne x  morning  he  asked  if  be  could  be  of  any  serviss  and  Mandy 
set  him  to  cleaning  the  lamps 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

as  if  they  was  soap  bubbles  that  a  breath 
would  blow  away.  When  I  got  them  done 
he  come  and  gazed  at  them  with  a  kind  of 
awe  and  says,  "I  never  before  had  so  much 
respeck  for  a  row  of  lamps.  I  will  try  to 
acheave  something  like  that  to-morrow  if 
you  will  trust  them  to  me."  I  knew  any 
body  with  that  sperit  was  bounded  to  suc 
ceed,  and  sure  enough  he  can  do  better 
every  day.  Jim  says  the  time  aint  far  dis 
tant  when  he  wont  have  to  take  off  the 
chimbley  to  see  if  the  lamp  is  lit. 

"Don't  you  suit  you?"  anxiously  in 
quired  Jason. 

"I  should  say  they  did  soot  me,"  answers 
Jim. 

Jason  being  tall,  and  sollem  and  misteri- 
ous  looking,  looks  sort  of  funny  when  he  is 
polishing  the  silverware  (that  we  thought 
he  had  come  to  steal)  and  he  was  doing  it 
when  Mrs.  Sawyer  come  in  one  day  to  tell 
us  she  had  got  back  and  was  ready  to  take 
it  home. 

181 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

When  she  asked  Gussy  who  he  was  and 
he  said  "Father  caught  him  in  a  trap,"  she 
told  him  he  was  a  naughty  little  boy  to 
speak  so  to  a  lady  and  she  couldent  give 
him  something  pretty  she  had  brought  for 
him.  Before  he  had  time  to  ezplain, 
Mame  rushed  in  and  shook  her  head  at  him 
and  said  the  gentleman  was  a  freind  of 
Jim's  that  was  out  of  employment  making 
us  a  visit. 

"There's  a  Providence  in  it!"  cried  Mrs. 
Sawyer.  "Here's  the  very  man  I  want  to 
my  house!" 

Some  time  before  she'd  went  to  the  door 
of  an  east  side  house  to  leave  a  big  bundle 
of  close  for  a  dear  freind  who  was  sewing 
there  by  the  day  which,  when  she  rung  the 
bell  the  hired  man  come  to  the  door.  It 
was  afternoon  so  he  had  his  close  changed 
and  his  hare  slicked  up  and  looked  reel 
nobby.  She  would  of  took  him  for  the 
man  of  the  house  only  she  knew  him  by 
sight  and  he  wan't  anywhere's  near  so  dis- 
182 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

tang  gay,  so  she  said.  But  the  silver  salver 
he  passed  out  for  the  bundle  wan't  no  big 
ger  than  a  postal  card  and  twant  no  won 
der  it  fell  off  on  the  floor.  She  took  sech  a 
shine  to  him  that  she  vowed  she'd  get  one 
like  him  as  near  as  she  could,  but  she  made 
up  her  mind  that  she  would  have  trays  of 
differant  sizes  handy  according  to  the  size 
of  the  bundles  brought  to  the  door,  if  they 
wassent  nothing  but  tin.  Mrs.  Sawyer 
spends  the  extry  money  Ben  sends  her  awful 
foolish  sometimes  though  she  never  does  no 
harm  with  it.  Last  week  when  she  bought 
an  antic  chair  of  a  dealer  that  was  going 
round  with  only  three  legs,  Jim  says, 
"What  ails  the  woman?"  And  when  Mame 
reminded  him  she  had  money  to  burn  he 
says,  "Well  then,  why  don't  she  burn  it?" 
It  dident  make  no  odds  to  him  if  some  big 
man  had  set  in  it  (that  was  everdent 
enough)  he  would  perfer  the  quadruped 
kind. 
Well,  if  she  took  a  notion  to  anything, 

183 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

she  wanted  to  get  it  and  she  took  a  no 
tion  to  Jason,  from  the  way  he  worked  and 
him  being  so  quiet  and  civel.  "He's  jest 
what  I've  been  looking  for  because  he  looks 
jest  like  that  hired  man  on  the  east  side." 
("Which  side  of  him  is  that?"  says  Mame, 
sort  of  vochy.)  "Call  him  in,"  she  says, 
"and  I  will  offer  him  5$  a  week  on  the 
spot." 

She  had  been  making  her  observances 
from  the  setting-room  while  he  was  to  work 
in  the  kitchen.  We  called  him  in  but  when 
we  give  her  an  interduction  to  him  and  he 
looked  at  her  with  his  sollem  black  eyes  ac 
companying  them  with  a  beautiful  bow 
from  the  waste  up,  that  was  so  full  of  self 
respeck  that  he  seemed  to  be  bowing  to 
himself,  she  lost  all  her  self  commandment 
and  haddent  a  word  to  say.  She  remarked 
afterwoods  that  she  would  as  soon  darsted 
to  ask  King  Edward  to  remove  her  ashes. 

So  he  lost  that  job  jest  by  his  looks;  but 
maybe  it's  all  for  the  best.  Praps  him  and 
184 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

her  wouldent  be  adaptuated  to  one  another 
and  besides  we'd  miss  him  terryble  if  he 
went  away.  He  aint  what  you'd  call  lively 
compenny  because  he  hardly  ever  speaks 
and  as  for  laughing,  Jim  says  his  laughing 
appyraters  musi:  be  rusty  from  lack  of  dis 
use;  but  he's  so  difTrant  from  the  rest  of 
the  folks  we  know  that  it  kind  of  takes  up 
our  minds  thinking  and  conjecturating 
about  him.  He's  so  dark  complected  in  the 
face  we  don't  know  but  he's  got  Injun 
blood  in  his  veins;  and  maybe  he's  a  de 
scendant  of  Pocky  Honters,  her  that  res 
cued  the  life  of  John  Smith  in  the  history. 
He  aint  got  no  background,  as  you  might 
say,  same  as  them  new  kind  of  folks'  pic 
tures  in  the  maggezines.  Instead  of  hav 
ing  a  flower  garding  behind  them  or  a  stu 
dio  full  of  crazy  objecks  sech  as  studios 
have  to  have  (though  I  never  could  tell 
why)  or  even  a  handsome  parlor;  but  there 
they  are  by  themselves,  and  if  you  want  to 
•guess  anything  you  are  forced  to  do  it  tty 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

their  face  or  their  attitude.  I  like  it.  And 
I  don't  know  much  about  sech  things  but 
I  like  it  better  when  a  saint  in  a  picture 
aint  got  any  halow  round  his  head,  like  a 
labell.  The  haylow  had  ought  to  be  in  the 
face. 

Mr.  Spinney,  recalling  our  talk  in  the 
park  about  books,  says  to  me  yesterday, 
"Well,  Lady  Jane,  you've  got  another  vol 
ume  in  your  small  libery  and  I  hope  you 
find  it  interesting." 

"Yes,"  I  says,  "though  it's  in  a  forrin 
language  and  I  can't  read  it  yet." 

Even  the  stories  he  tells  the  children  aint 
like  what  they've  heard  before  not  being 
funny  one's  like  Mr.  Spinney's  but  are 
ones  from  history  and  his  thology,  as  he 
calls  it.  Once  when  Gussy  says  to  him, 
"Tell  us  a  story  about  a  little  boy  bout  as 
big  as  me,"  he  riz  right  up  with  an  awful 
look  of  pain  in  his  face  and  went  to  pacing 
the  floor.  So  much  so  that  Mandy  rushed 
of?  for  the  Jamaica  ginger  bottle,  thinking 
1 86 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

the  tripe  we'd  had  for  dinner  wan't  setting 
very  well.  But  he  motioned  away  the  doce, 
reminding  her  he  hadn't  et  any  of  it. 
Mandy  don't  know  much  about  any  pain 
that  aint  phyzicle.  But  phyzicle  pain  is 
nothing  but  fun  compared  to  the  other 
kind.  Still — who'd  be  Mandy? 

Speaking  about  Mr.  Spinney,  him  and 
Jason  don't  take  to  each  other  as  sociable 
as  I  wish  they  would;  and,  in  fack,  Mr. 
Spinney  hardly  ever  comes  in  now.  I  hear 
him  come  into  the  house  early  every  night, 
though,  so  I  expect  he  spends  the  evening 
with  Ellen  and  her  mother.  Maybe  she  is 
learning  to  love  him,  same  as  they  do  in 
books;  but  the  thought  don't  make  me  so 
happy  as  I  calkilated  it  would.  I  don't 
know  why.  I  hope  if  they  do  match  up 
they  will  be  as  happy  as  Mame  and  Jim. 
Mr.  Spinney  has  said  that  it  knocks  out  all 
the  laws  of  astronomy  the  way  their  honey 
moon  keeps  awaxing  and  awaxing  with 
never  a  sign  of  a  wane.  I  can  see  Jason 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

takes  notice  of  it,  too,  by  the  way  he  watches 
them  when  they  are  together.  And  one 
day  he  remarked  their  love  seemed  deep 
and  strong,  adding  it  was  fortunet  they 
was  so  well  adaptuated  to  each  other. 

"But  they  aint  adaptuated  to  each  other 
at  all !"  I  says.  That's  the  meracle  of  love, 
that  it  makes  one  of  two  people  that  is 
composed  of  sech  conflicting  elements. 
Love  is  kind  of  a  universal  solvant  that 
mixes  anything.  Jim  and  Mame  don't 
like  the  same  kind  of  things  at  all.  She  is 
kind  of  high-strung  and  wants  a  lot  going 
on — wants  the  band  playing  all  the  time. 
He  is  slow  and  easy-going  and  likes  when 
he  aint  to  work  a  quiet  time  with  his  fam- 
bly  round  the  fireside  (or  the  back  steps,— 
according  to  the  elements)  but  it's  this 
way:  Mame  loves  him  more  than  she  does 
the  band  and  his  affexions  for  her  over- 
weighs  his  feeling  for  the  chimbly  corner. 
So  each  one  gets  a  lot  of  playsure  sacrifac- 
ing  up  something  they  want  for  the  sake 
188 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

of  the  other — especielly  Jim.  Of  course 
they  have  their  scraps — that's  a  part  of  it, 
and  it  aint  alwers  plessant  or  salubrious  to 
be  round  when  they  are  going  on ;  but  you 
•can  feel  sure  at  sech  times  that  a  honey-dew 
spell  is  sure  to  foller.  Yesterday  morning 
Mame  said  something  middling  sharp  to 
Jim  when  he  was  going  off  to  work  with 
out  any  provocation  and  he  didn't  make  no 
answer — jest  closed  the  door  soft  and  went 
out.  But  his  feet  sounded  awful  heavy  on 
the  stairs,  jest  as  if  he  was  tired  out  or  dis- 
curridged.  It  wan't  a  very  pleassant  way 
to  begin  a  long  hard  day  of  work. 

It  was  soon  made  mannyfest  in  the 
kitchen  that  Mame  didn't  feel  jest  right 
about  it.  Didn't  things  slambang  round 
there  for  a  spell!  I  didn't  pay  no  attention 
to  it.  It  simply  showed  the  law  of  gravi 
tation  was  still  in  foarce  and  made  no  ex 
ceptions  in  faver  of  pots  and  pans  and  pie- 
plates.  Mandy  verry  discreatly  withdrew, 
ostentatiously  to  make  up  the  beds,  but  in 
189 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

reality  to  seek  refuse  from  the  coming 
storm. 

At  last  Mame  couldn't  stand  it  no  longer. 
She  says,  "Jen,  you  watch  the  bread  in  the 
oven  a  spell.  I  got  to  do  an  arrant." 

I  knew  she'd  gone  to  the  shop  to  make 
up  with  Jim,  and  I  told  Jason  so;  but  as 
we  watched  her  out  of  the  winder  we  saw 
her  stop  at  the  corner, — where  she  was  met 
by  Jim! 

"Yes,"  I  says,  "he  was  on  the  way  to  ask 
her  forgiveness." 

"He  ask  her  forgiveness!"  cries  Jason; 
"that  aint  common  sense." 

"No,"  I  says ;  "and  if  common  sense  was 
a  little  more  uncommon  this  would  be  a 
happyer  world.  It's  all  right  to  have  it  to 
apply  to  the  work  of  the  shop  and  the 
kitchen  and  every  where  else  but  love  don't 
need  it.  Don't  you  know  how  hard  it  is 
for  the  one  that's  in  the  wrong  to  ask  for 
giveness?  It's  the  one  that  aint  done  a 
thing  that  it's  the  easiest  for.  The  sense 
190 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

that  there  aint  anything  to  ask  it  for  kind 
of  boys  them  up.  Then  they  are  the  ones 
to  do  it,  I  say." 

"Of  all  of  the  ridiclous" — he  begun,  and 
then  he  stopped  and  looked  awful  thought 
ful  for  a  long  time  with  his  head  on  his 
hand.  He  often  sets  like  that,  sometimes 
follered  by  writing  sheet  after  sheet  of 
paper  usually  tearing  it  up  afterwoods. 
Yesterday  after  Mame  got  back  (happy  as 
a  bird  in  springtime)  he  went  to  writing 
again ;  but  all  to  a  sudden  he  stopped  and 
with  a  groan,  sunk  his  head  down  on  his 
arms  on  the  table.  I  slipped  sofly  out  of 
the  room  and  left  him  alone;  but  before  I 
left  I  laid  a  newspaper  on  top  of  what  he'd 
been  writing  because  I  knew  he  had  forgot 
all  about  it,  and  Mrs.  Ezry  Sawyer  is  apt 
to  come  in  any  minute.  She  makes  excuses 
to  come  in  often  and  we  can  all  see  who 
she  comes  to  see,  all  but  Jason  himself,  and 
he  is  so  oblivitous  of  her  presence  that  it 
almost  seems  as  if  she  was  ackchelly  invisi- 
191 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ble  to  him.  She  says  she  don't  know  what 
ever  possessed  her  to  think  of  getting  him 
for  a  hired  man,  as  she  now  feels  she  could 
welcome  him  in  a  higher  and  holier  rela 
tion  than  that.  Then  right  before  him  she 
gets  off  a  lot  of  talk  about  her  love  for  her 
husband  being  nothing  but  a  boy  and  girl 
feeling  and  about  it  is  only  later  when  a 
woman  has  reached  the  limitations  of  her 
powers  and  has  superimposed  and  expandi- 
fied  that  she  is  caperble  of  perfeck  love. 
He  was  scouring  the  knives  when  she  got 
this  out  of  her  system,  and  jest  here  he 
asked  Mandy  where  the  drying-off  rag  was. 
Mame  says  she  thought  he  wanted  to  gag 
her  with  it.  He  acks  so  exackly  as  he  did- 
ent  hear  her  that  she's  got  it  in  her  head 
that  he  takes  deef  spells.  And  Jim  says 
maybe  he  reely  has  got  the  lost  muscle  I 
tell  about.  He  has  reference  to  a  little  idee 
I  have  got  about  your  ear.  You  know  there 
is  a  little  lid  in  front  of  your  ear  jest  large 
enough  to  cover  the  opening,  same  as  there 
192 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

is  a  lid  to  your  eyes,  only  this  aint  self-act 
ing  like  the  eyelid,  and  you  have  to  shut  it 
with  your  fingers.  Now  my  idee  is  that 
primevil  man  had  a  muscle  there  so  he 
could  open  and  shut  it  when  he  wanted  to 
same  as  he  could  his  eyes;  but  from  their 
desire  to  hear  everything  that  was  going  on 
he  kep  it  open  and  the  muscle  was  lost 
through  disuse.  I  read  about  the  camel  be 
ing  able  to  open  and  shut  his  nostrums  at 
will  to  keep  the  flying  dust  out  of  his  nose 
on  the  desert,  and  we  have  got  kind  of  weak 
muscles  there  too.  The  saying  "Keep  your 
eyes  and  ears  open"  must  of  been  made  up 
when  that  could  be  done.  I  wisht  we  could 
do  that  now — close  up  our  ears  to  any  un 
welcome  sounds  without  being  noticed. 
And  how  easy  sick  people  would  drop  off 
to  sleep  when  they  could  shut  out  all 
sound.  And  Jim  says  there's  certain  times 
when  a  fambly  man  would  find  it  a  com 
fort. 
Well,  Jason  acks  for  all  the  world  as  if 

193 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

he  could  and  did  close  his  ears  on  various 
occasions.  She  tells  jokes  to  cheer  him  up 
and  he  don't  even  smile.  She  says  it's  a 
pity  any  one  with  sech  handsome  teeth 
shouldn't  have  a  sense  of  umor.  She  added 
there  was  a  time  during  which  Ben 
couldn't  see  a  joke  and  that  was  when  he'd 
had  a  front  tooth  knocked  out.  But  after 
he'd  been  fixed  up  at  the  dentist's  he  saw  'em 
quick  enough.  She  declares  Jason  aint  got 
any  sech  excuse.  Jim  says  he  don't  laugh 
at  her  jokes  on  account  of  them  being  so 
venerable — that  his  respeck  for  the  aged 
would  keep  him  from  laughing. 

Seeing  she  didn't  have  no  luck  bright 
ening  him  up  this  way  what  did  she  do 
but  fetch  over  an  elixer  for  him  that  she 
bragged  on  to  build  up  his  blood  and  re 
new  his  strength.  Mame  declared  how  she 
knew  it  was  some  harmless  stuff  she'd 
mixed  up  herself  jest  for  an  excuse  to  make 
of  him. 

194 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Well,"  says  Jim,  "if  it's  only  play- 
tonic  what  you  grumbling  about?" 

But  if  I  keep  on  writing  like  this  the 
sewing-machine  will  get  all  rusted  up.  So 
I  will  draw  to  a  close. 

Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


195 


XXI 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

Seeing  you  said  you  would  like  to  know 
how  serten  matters  has  turned  out  I  am 
awful  glad  I  have  something  pleassant  to 
tell  you — something  that  changes  the  as- 
pesk  of  the  whole  house  and  makes  the  sec 
ond  story  a  love  story,  as  Mr.  Spinney  says. 
Jim  told  him  it  didn't  get  as  far  as  chap.  2, 
but  though  the  joke  was  supposed  to  be  on 
him  he  done  his  duty  by  laughing  at  it. 

The  evening  after  that  one  when  I  see 
Ellen  Hennersy  coming  out  of  the  poth- 
ecary  shop  we  was  setting  quiet  as  usual  in 
the  setting-room.  We  take  sollem  comfort 
evenings  when  the  children  has  been  put  to 
bed.  Mr.  Spinney  most  always  used  to  be 
with  us  and  Ellen  would  often  run  in ;  but 
since  she  has  ben  so  low-sperited  she  don't 
196 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

feel  like  meeting  strangers,  especially  any 
one  so  imposing  as  Jason,  and  we  don't 
hardly  ever  see  Mr.  Spinney  now.  Jim 
says  it  wouldn't  take  very  deep  scientifical 
study  to  trace  a  connection  between  these 
two  facks.  Well,  Mame  usually  reads  out 
loud  and  Jim  stretches  himself  out  on  the 
couch  and  listens.  Sis  always  runs  and  gets 
what  he  calls  the  lounge-extension  for  her 
father.  It's  an  old  chair  put  to  the  end  of 
the  lounge  for  his  feet,  seeing  it  is  only 
ordinerry  lenth  and  he  reaches  forth  into 
space  a  long  distance  beyond. 

Mr.  Spinney  used  to  set  in  the  morris 
chair  but  Jason  generally  sets  there  now, 
most  frequent  leaning  his  head  on  his  hand 
and  apayrently  listening  also,  but  doing 
more  thinking  than  listening,  I  guess.  I 
set  by  the  table  and  sew  and  sometimes 
Mandy  sews,  too.  She  does  overcasting 
pretty  good  but  we  don't  trust  her  to  mend 
stockings  as  they  are  quite  painful  to  wear 
afterwards.  I  let  her  cobble  up  a  pair  for 
197 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

me  once  jest  to  please  her  and  I  limped  all 
the  time  I  wore  them.  I  couldent  help  it. 
She  can  pop  corn  first  rate  if  she  puts  her 
whole  mind  on  it  and  sometimes  we  have 
that  or  some  other  treat  at  the  close  of  the 
evening.  When  eggs  is  plenty  we  fry  a 
few  on  top  of  the  coals  and  with  hot  coffy 
the  men  folks  thinks  it  tastes  awful  good. 
All  but  Jason.  He's  a  light  eater  and  we 
wonder  what  keeps  him  alive. 

Well,  we  was  setting  there  and  bymeby 
Mame  says  to  me,  "Are  you  expecting  to  see 
anybody?  You  appear  to  be  in  a  listening 
attitood." 

"No,"  I  says,  and  I  hadn't  realized  I  had 
appeared  to  be  listening. 

Pretty  soon  after  that  a  heavy  footstep 
come  in  the  front  door,  coughed  a  couple 
of  times  and  went  up  stairs. 

"Sounds  for  all  the  world  like   Dinny 

Caffretty,"  says  Mame;  and  it  wan't  long 

before  we  heard  Ellen  larfing  as  she  hadn't 

larfed    goodness    knows    when    and    her 

108 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

mother  joined  in.  Then  there  was  singing 
and  finelly  there  come  the  thumping  on  the 
sealing  that  meant  that  Mrs.  Hennersy 
was  singing  the  Rushes  song.  Later  there 
come  a  knock  to  the  door,  which  when  I 
opened  it  there  stood  Ellen  all  joy  and 
happyness. 

"Mame,"  she  says,  "can  we  have  your 
corn  popper?  We  got  company." 

When  I  took  it  out  in  the  entry  to  her  she 
larfed  and  whispered,  "It's  him!  He  says 
he  didn't  darst  to  come  before  on  account 
of  me  treating  him  like  I  did  on  the  street 
and  serten  little  remarks  that  I  have  let 
slip  have  been  enlarged  and  falsified  beyond 
description."  * 

"How  about  the  demmingstraighter?"  I 
inquired. 

"Oh!  that  wan't  nothing  at  all.  He  jest 
saw  her  home  a  couple  of  times  at  her  per 
sonal  request  and  Mrs.  Sawyer  got  wind 
of  it  and  made  a  great  todo  about  it.  He 
says  the  fellers  calls  her  Goldilocks 
199 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

though  she  is  40,  and  she  has  got  a  couple 
of  husbands  somewheres  that  is  nice  God 
fearing  men  as  ever  lived  but  she  would 
rather  ockipy  a  position  in  the  face  and 
eyes  of  the  multitood  than  stay  home  & 
cherk  them  up  when  they  are  sad  and  loanly 
and  cook  their  vittles.  She  aint  got  her  bill 
from  the  last  one  yet  so  she  aint  in  any  posi 
tion  to  except  attentions  from  the  likes  of 
Dinny  even  if  he  wanted  hide  nor  hair  of 
her  which  he  don't,  and  goose  that  I  was 
to  think  so  for  a  single  minute." 

By  this  time  she  was  all  out  of  breath 
with  talking  and  larfing  both  together  but 
she  added  as  she  run  off  (without  the  pop 
per),  "You  see  our  prayers  was  answered 
without  the  human  agency  sech  as  you  told 
about." 

And  I  didn't  have  the  heart  to  Shatter 
sech  simple  faith. 

We  wasn't  so  very  much  supposed  to  find 
that  Mrs.  Ezry  Sawyer  was  at  the  bottom 
200 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

of  the  trouble  seeing  Ellen  had  had  a  good 
deal  to  do  with  Ben  leaving  home.  She'll 
never  forgive  her,  I  expect,  for  abringing 
on  him  that  disappointment  and  greaf.  But 
Ellen  couldn't  help  being  sweet  and  pretty 
and  lovable,  and  if  the  moth  got  caught  in 
the  trap  it  was  his  own  fault,  and  I  am 
glad  his  mother's  scheme  to  bring  the  same 
sorrer  on  Ellen  was  flusterated.  She  would 
of  been  sorry  for  Ellen  herself  if  she  real 
ized  how  bad  she  felt.  She  aint  a  bad- 
hearted  woman  but  Ben  is  all  she's  got  in 
the  world. 

Mr.  Spinney  likes  to  plague  Ellen  about 
the  eppysode  and  he  says: 
"Of  all  sad  words  of  tongue  or  pen, 

The  saddest  are  these:  she  might  have 
had  Ben." 

The  nex  day  but  one. 
I  aint  had  a  minute  to  finish  your  letter 
as  ther  is  a  great  holiday  rush  in  my  busi- 
20 1 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ness  and  besides  I  got  an  awful  lot  on  my 
mind.  When  I  got  home  yesterday  with 
some  new  work  Gussy  says, 

"O  aunt  Jennie!  The  South  America 
lady  has  ben  here  to  see  you  and  she  is  com 
ing  again." 

He  means  Mrs.  Sawyer.  He  calls  her 
that  because  her  chin  comes  down  to  a 
point  and  her  face  is  kind  of  one-sided  so  it 
looks  like  the  map  of  South  America.  Her 
chin  does  resemble  Cape  Horn  to  a  serten 
extent  but  I  tell  Gussy  it  aint  pretty  to  no 
tice  sech  things. 

Well,  I  knew  what  Mrs.  Sawyer  was  up 
to.  She  was  going  to  renew  her  attackt 
about  the  opshen  and  tideland  business;  so 
I  was  bound  to  get  red  of  Jamesy's  money 
as  quick  as  I  could  to  put  myself  out  of 
temptation,  for  it  was  more  of  a  tempta 
tion  than  I  would  own  up  to.  To  think 
with  that  little  money  I  could  make  enough 
for  us  all  to  go  to  Chictooset  nex  summer 
and  give  the  presants  I  have  planned  be- 
202 


"  The  South  America  lady  " 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

sides  is  enough  to  temp  any  one.  Some 
times  I  think  it's  safe  but  not  right  and 
sometimes  I  feel  as  it  was  right  but  not  safe, 
and  then  again  as  if  it  wan't  one  nor 
tother.  What  I  want  to  do  is  to  get  red 
of  the  money  before  I  get  round  to  think 
ing  its  both. 

You  have  to  do  what  you  think  is  right; 
but  that  aint  all  because  it  aint  right  to 
think  a  thing  is  right  when  it  aint.  You 
see  we  have  alwers  ben  planning  to  go  back 
to  Chictooset  on  a  visit  where  we  used  to 
live  ever  since  we  moved  away  from  there  9 
years  ago.  It  was  where  our  payrents  and 
grand  payrents  was  born  and  raised  and 
we  think  there  aint  any  place  like  it.  We 
wouldn't  ever  left  there  if  it  hadn't  been 
that  me  and  Jim  and  Mame  could  all  be 
earning  in  the  city  and  we  needed  the 
money. 

We  own  the  old  homestid  yet  and  we  let 
it  to  a  summer  fambly  that  says  we  are  wel 
come  to  go  there  any  time  between  Novem- 
203 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

her  and  June  the  first  exclusive.  I  cant 
begin  to  tell  you  how  us  grown-up  folks 
long  to  take  the  childern  there  and  they  are 
jest  crazy  about  it  themselves.  All  their 
favoryte  stories  is  about  the  old  town  and 
they  know  all  about  the  people  and  places 
there.  To  be  sure  there  has  ben  changes 
but  not  many.  The  freinds  that  writes  us 
from  there  tells  us  our  old  place  looks  jest 
the  same.  The  pansys  and  ladies-delights 
that  Mother  planted  blossoms  every  year, 
they  say.  What  wouldn't  I  give  to  see 
them! 

We  plan  every  year  to  go  and  spend  the 
month  of  May  there — all  but  Jim  and  he 
will  spend  his  week's  vacation  with  us. 
When  May  is  all  most  here  we  find  we  cant 
go  owing,  as  Jim  says,  to  a  stringency  in  the 
money  market.  But  we  say  we  will  go  the 
nex  year  and  it  reely  seems  probberble.  It 
continues  to  be  very  probberble  till  along 
about  Januerry  when  it  don't  seem  so  much 
204 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

so,  and  somewheres  around  Febuerry  (I 
can't  tell  jest  exackly  when)  it  changes 
from  probberble  to  simply  possible;  and 
the  change  from  possible  to  impossible, 
which  occurs  in  April,  is  unperceptible  to 
the  naked  eye.  This  has  been  going  on  for 
9  years  and  this  is  the  time  of  year  when 
May  in  Chictooset  is  a  sure  thing;  but  re 
calling  past  disappointments,  I  should  like 
to  clinch  it  if  I  could  before  it  becomes  a 
wild  and  venturous  flight  of  the  realms  of 
fancy.  Mrs.  Sawyer  thinks  I  can  clinch  it 
by  follering  her  advice  but  I  feel  as  if  I 
didn't  have  no  right  to  trifle  with  Jamsey's 
money.  I  am  what  you  might  call  the 
self-appointed  ministrater  of  his  little  es 
tate  and  I  have  planned  and  planned  and 
planned  how  to  give  the  most  possible  hap 
piness  in  his  name.  There  aint  enough  for 
a  memorable  widow  or  a  bed  in  a  hospital 
so  I  have  got  it  done  up  in  differant  peaces 
of  paper  with  what  it's  for  wrote  on  the 
205 


outside.  I  know  a  number  of  self-respect 
ing  people  that  is  having  a  tough  time  to 
keep  their  heads  above  water  but  never  com 
plain  and  would  ruther  die  than  let  folks 
know  what  a  tussle  they  was  having.  And 
I  am  going  to  give  a  few  of  them  useful' 
gifs. 

A  woman  that  lives  near  here  has  got  a 
great  parcel  of  childern  and  he  gets  awful 
small  pay.  She  gets  along  fair  to  middling 
as  a  general  thing  because  she  has  got  a 
lot  of  faculty  about  fixing  over  their  close 
and  she  is  a  great  contriver  about  food. 
She  could  keep  her  fambly  in  good  shape 
on  what  another  woman  would  heave 
away.  But  this  fall  she  is  all  run  down 
and  looks  like  she  was  on  the  verge  of  a 
sick  spell.  Wash  day  jest  about  uses  her 
up  and  she  has  to  lay  down  almost  all  the 
nex  day  between  the  ironing.  Her  wash 
ings  is  something  terrible  in  size  and  if  she 
didn't  have  to  use  herself  up  on  them  she 
could  probberbly  hold  out.  So  I  am  going 
206 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

to  give  her  16$ — enough  to  hire  it  for  three 
months. 

Then  there  is  old  Mrs.  Newcome  down 
to  Chictooset.  Her  and  her  daughter  Pa- 
melia  lives  alone  together  and  Pamelia 
clerks  in  Peterses  store.  The  mother  is  all 
alone  most  of  the  day  and  I  guess  she  must 
get  pretty  blue  by  spells.  She  writ  to 
Mame  last  summer  how  disappointed  she 
was  on  account  of  us  net  making  our  visit 
in  Chictooset  and  it  was  jest  the  same  as 
she  writes  every  summer  (Jim  says  it  would 
save  time  down  there  if  they  would  have 
a  rubber  stamp  with  their  centiments  on  it 
to  use  every  year,  but  though  he  tries  to 
carry  it  off  with  a  joke  I  know  he  is  the 
most  disappointed  of  all  mostly  on  account 
of  the  little  boys  and  also  Mother's  grave) 
only  last  summer  she  says,  "Pamelia  is  awful 
good  and  kind  to  me  and  I  have  everything 
nice  and  comferble;  but  I  do  wish  you 
could  send  me  one  of  them  hearty  larfs  sech 
as  we  used  to  have  together.  The  neigh- 
207 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

bors  don't  run  in  as  they  used  to.  I  don't 
expeck  I'm  very  bright  company  but  I  al- 
wers  try  to  be." 

Now  I  am  going  to  send  her  a  whole  lot 
of  larfs.  They  are  going  in  a  fonygraft 
that  I  have  planned  for  her,  and  Mr.  Spin 
ney  is  agoing  to  pick  out  the  most  side- 
spliting  peices  there  is  for  it.  He  has  got 
some  himself  he  says  he  is  tired  of  and  he 
will  add  them.  We  liked  to  died  larfing 
one  night  when  he  wound  them  up  for  us. 
That  will  make  the  neighbors  run  in  like 
sixty  for  they  will  all  be  crazy  over  the 
fonygraft.  They  all  think  a  heap  of  Pa- 
melia  and  her  mother  but  they  don't  realize 
the  old  lady  is  alone  so  much  by  herself. 

Old  Capten  Joe  Silliker  is  a  man  we've 
alwers  thought  the  world  of.  He  follered 
the  sea  as  Capten  of  the  Flying  Judith  for 
years  and  made  a  lot  of  money  but  was  so 
free-handed  and  generous  he  went  through 
every  cent  of  it;  and  now  he  lives  with  his 
neice.  She  is  poorer  than  poverty  but  she 
208 


<i 
fc 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JEXXIE  ALLEX 

gives  him  a  home.  He  can't  ever  have  sech 
lugsuries  as  tobacker  and  it  alwers  cuts  me 
to  the  heart  to  think  of  him  without  his 
pipe  which  hardly  ever  went  out  in  his 
parmy  days.  But  he  is  going  to  have 
enough  now  to  keep  it  agoing  in  full  blast 
for  6  months. 

I  aint  forgot  how  he  used  to  let  us  play 
hide  and  seek  when  we  was  little  in  the 
cabin  of  the  Flying  Judith  when  she  was 
in  port  and  on  the  middle  of  our  setting 
room  shelf  is  a  little  ivory  ship  he  fetched 
home  to  Mother  when  she  was  a  girl  from 
Chiny. 

The  name  of  the  schooner,  the  Flying 
Judith,  was  a  compromise  and,  like  most 
compromises  wan't  very  satisfactory  to 
either  one  side  or  tother.  Even  sence  he 
was  a  teenty  bit  of  a  boy  he'd  had  his  dreams 
about  follering  the  sea  and  had  alwers 
looked  forrard  to  having  command  of  a 
craft  named  the  Flying  Arrer.  This  was 
on  account  of  it  being  a  book  named  The 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Flying  Arrer  that  give  him  his  hankering 
for  the  sea.  Well,  when  he  was  part  owner 
of  a  schooner  that  was  built  and  had  the 
naming  of  her  he  had  got  to  be  a  married 
man  and  it  wan't  sech  a  simple  matter  then 
to  give  the  name  of  his  boyhood's  fancy, 
seeing  he  didn't  have  the  supream  power 
to  home  that  he  had  on  the  raging  billow. 
His  wife's  name  was  Judith  and  when  we 
saw  The  Flying  Judith  painted  on  the 
stern  of  the  new  vessel  we  knew  it  was  her 
decision — "her  stern  decision,"  as  Mr. 
Spinney  has  said. 

The  name  don't  sound  so  funny  to  them 
that  don't  know  how  slow  in  her  motions 
Jude  Silliker  was.  But  both  Judiths  is 
gone  now — the  flying  one  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea  somewheres  round  the  coast  of  Swis- 
sterland,  and  the  slow-moving  one  in  the 
old  graveyard  behind  the  church.  It  don't 
make  no  odds  how  slow-moving  we  are, 
we  all  of  usll  get  there  some  time  or  other. 
Capten  Joe  writ  the  verse  on  her  tomb 
210 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

stone  himself.  He  said  it  was  the  last  sad 
privilege  he  could  perform  for  her  and  it 
peared  to  give  him  sattisfaction  to  do  it. 

This  verse  was  spoke  once  for  a  peice  in 
school  and  quite  an  onpleassant  ockurence 
was  the  consequents.  I  guess  them  that 
lived  in  Chictooset  at  the  time  wont  ever 
forget  it.  It  was  spoke  by  a  deliket  but 
well-meaning  little  boy  named  Willie 
Jameson.  He  was  a  little  orphan  boy  that 
had  ben  took  by  his  uncle,  old  Jabe  Hinck- 
ley,  and  I  guess  his  home  wan't  a  very 
happy  one  on  account  of  his  uncle's  wife 
being  sech  a  tarter.  When  the  teacher  give 
out  that  they'd  got  to  have  peices  for  the 
nex  Friday  they  all  went  home  and  went 
to  hunting  up  the  peices.  I  recolleck  what 
a  todo  there  was  to  our  house  helping  Jim 
pick  out  his.  The  whole  fambly  pitched 
in  and  helped.  Finelly  we  settled  on  The 
Berrial  of  Moses,  Mother  being  always  a 
great  favorite  of  that  pome.  Our  work 
wasn't  accomplished  even  then,  because  he 
211 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

had  to  have  a  lot  of  help  learning  it,  seeing 
it  was  always  hard  to  commit  things  off 
by  heart. 

But  the  little  Jameson  boy  didn't  darst 
to  ask  to  have  books  to  find  a  peice  in  (sech 
as  they  was  and  very  few  of  them)  and  so 
he  went  to  the  graveyard  to  find  one.  Any 
body  seeing  the  poor  little  white-livered 
feller  wandering  round  there  wouldn't 
think  he  was  much  ahead  of  time. 

When  Friday  come  and  all  the  children 
was  dressed  up  in  their  Sunday  close,  and 
one  after  the  other  got  up  and  spoke  off 
their  piece  when  his  turn  come  he  went  up 
to  the  plackform  in  the  same  close  he  wore 
doing  the  chores  (all  he  had)  and  said  off 
the  verse: 

"Free  from  sorrer,  care  and  strife, 
Lies  Judith,  Joseph  Silliker's  wife. 
Angels  come  and  bore  her  away, 
But  we'll  see  her  again  on  Jedg- 
ment  Day." 


212 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

There  was  a  titter  all  round  and  one  of 
the  boys  laughed  out  loud.  His  teacher, 
Mary  Liz  Henbury,  was  madder  than  git- 
out.  She  grabbed  the  ferule  and  told  him 
to  come  to  her.  He  went  and  stood  before 
her,  tremling  in  every  pore.  "Hold  out 
your  hand,"  she  says;  and  he  held  it  out, 
nothing  but  a  little  mite  of  skin  and  bone. 
Down  come  the  black  walnut  ferule,  whack 
after  whack.  Then  he  groped  his  way 
back  to  his  seat,  the  hurt  hand  held  out  in 
front  of  him,  the  other  arm  hiding  his  face. 
When  he  got  to  his  seat  his  head  sunk  down 
on  his  arms  on  the  desk. 

"I  will  learn  you  to  show  respeck  to  dead 
and  respectable  people!"  she  says.  "Now 
I  want  to  know  if  you're  ever  going  to  cut 
up  sech  a  caper  again."  He  didn't  make 
no  answer  and  she  raised  her  voice  still 
louder  and  says,  "Air  you?" 

He  kep  on  making  no  answer  and  when 
she  took  aholt  of  his  head  to  raise  it  up 
they  see  he'd  fainted  away. 
213 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Very  gentle  the  big  boys  lugged  him  out 
door  to  the  fresh  air  (they  wouldn't  let 
Mary  Liz  touch  him)  and  they  run  to  the 
spring  for  water  to  revive  him  up  with 
and  done  everything  they  could  till  he 
come  to.  Then  they  helped  him  home. 

When  Jim  come  home  he  was  awful  ex- 
'cited  over  it  and  he  told  how  mad  the 
scholars  was  and  how  numbered  Mary  Liz 
Henbury's  days  was  there,  so  they  all  de 
clared. 

"She  wouldn't  have  darsted  to  lick  him 
that  way,"  he  says,  "if  he'd  had  folks." 

But  Mother  stopped  him  and  says,  "Now, 
James,  you  musn't  bring  home  stories  like 
that  from  school,  and  take  sides  against  the 
teacher.  You'd  a  good  deal  better  be  talk 
ing  over  your  Sabbath  School  lesson." 

But  that  night  in  the  middle  of  the  night 
I  heard  her  apraying  and  saying,  "Heav 
enly  Father,  dont  take  me  away  from  my 
children!  don't  take  me  away  from  my  chil 
dren!" 

214 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I  don't  know  what  ever  become  of  that 
little  boy.  The  Hinckleys  moved  out  west 
('pears  to  me  it  was  New  Braska  they  went 
to)  and  took  him  with  them.  I  don't  be 
lieve  he  lived  to  grow  up.  After  that 
fracas  in  school  he  used  to  come  into  our 
house  evenings  and  him  and  Jim  would  do 
their  sums  together.  He  was  an  awful 
bright  scholar  and  he  was  a  great  help  to 
Jim.  And  then  Jim  helped  him  out  in 
cases  where  main  strenth  was  called  for. 
Mother  made  a  good  deal  of  him,  too. 
Sis  says  my  plan  about  keeping  Capten 
Joe's  pipe  lit  reminds  her  of  a  story  in  the 
reading  book  that  always  makes  her  cry 
when  she  reads  it.  It's  about  a  little  pleas 
ant  girl  in  France  that  had  no  earthly 
mother  to  love  and  so  she  wanted  to  do 
something  to  show  her  love  for  her  heav 
enly  one.  She  was  very  poor  and  had  to 
work  all  day  but  she  gathered  a  few  nuts  in 
the  night  and  managed  to  buy  a  little  oil 
to  keep  a  tiny  lamp  burning  before  a  way- 
215 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

side  shrine.  This  lamp  never  went  out 
while  she  lived  and  it  was  by  this  little  light 
they  found  her  dead  one  night  at  the  foot 
of  the  shrine,  a  smile  of  happyness  on  her 
face  and  the  thin  little  hands  elapsed  in 
prayer.  Then  there's  a  picture  that  goes 
with  it  that  shows  the  heavenly  mother 
coming  with  her  arms  stretched  out'  to  take 
her  to  heaven. 

It's  sech  a  beautiful  story  it  don't  seam 
right  to  compare  Capten  Joe's  pipe  to  the 
shrine  and  Sis  says  herself  it  don't  sound 
pretty  like  that  to  us  but  she  guesses  it 
would  to  Capten  Joe.  It  beats  everything 
how  Shattucky  that  child  is  and  increasing 
in  it  every  day  of  her  life! 

Another  poor  old  soul  there  is  the  Wid- 
der  Billings.  She  gets  a  small  pension  but 
she  helps  her  daughter  and  fambly  with  it. 
Her  son  died  in  the  war  and  he  was  the 
pride  and  joy  of  her  heart,  a  cussid  looking 
objeck,  so  Jim  says,  if  you  will  excuse  the 
expression,  and  I  am  going  to  have  his  tin- 
216 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

type  enlarged.  His  mother's  eyes  is  fail 
ing  and  she  greaves  that  she  can't  see  his 
feachers  plain.  Wont  she  rejoice  in  the 
life's  sized  picture!  His  brother-in-law 
says  he  had  sech  mean  ways  that  if  the  civel 
war  hadn't  accomplished  anything  else  it 
done  well  to  scoop  Zeke  Billings  offen  the 
face  of  the  earth.  I  don't  think  he  liked 
him. 

There's  a  little  boy  comes  here  sometimes 
on  arrants  and  when  he  come  for  the  work 
bundle  I  took  notice  how  white-livered  he 
looked  and  how  diffrant  from  our  boys.  I 
says  to  him  once,  "You  had  ought  to  drink 
more  milk,"  and  he  says,  "Father  don't  get 
but  7$  a  week  and  we  have  to  go  kind  of 
slow  on  milk." 

So  he  is  going  to  have  an  extry  quart  of 
milk  every  day  for  a  month. 

2$  worth  of  bright  colored  worsteds  for 

Feby  Maxwell  up   to  the  poor  house  in 

Chictooset  to  croshay  with  will  give  lots  of 

happyness.     She  loves  to  croshay  and  begs 

217 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

for  old  stockings  to  unravel  out  and  croshay 
them  over  into  mats  and  doll's  hoods. 
Then  there  will  be  enough  left  to  get  a 
big  package  of  flower  seeds  for  a  woman 
I  know  that  loves  gardening  and  flowers 
but  never  has  no  cash  for  sech  things. 

That  is  all  but  it  has  took  me  some  time 
to  plan  it  all  out.     I  know  Jamesey  will  be 
pleased.     Dear  little  feller!  he  was  born  on 
Friday  and  was  loving  and  giving. 
Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


218 


XXII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freindj 

Jason  has  gone.  A  month  ago  he  wan't 
here  because  we  hadn't  ever  heard  of  him 
then.  Now  he  aint  here  and  it  hadn't 
ought  to  be  different  from  what  it  was  then. 
But  there's  so  much  difference  it  seems  as 
if  we  couldn't  stand  it.  I  wish — Oh!  I 
wish  that  Mr.  Spinney  would  come  in  and 
cheer  the  folks  up.  I  am  trying  to  but  I 
aint  much  good  at  it  and  he  promised  to 
come  in  to-day.  I  hope  he  aint  forgot  it. 

I  must  tell  you  just  how  it  happened. 
Yesterday  morning  Mame  was  down  town 
and  she  had  took  the  baby  with  her  in  his 
carriage.  Mandy  was  to  work  in  the 
kitchen  and  Jason  was  helping  me  put  the 
setting-room  to  rights  when  a  carriage  drove 
up  to  the  door.  As  it  was  the  only  one 
219 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

that  had  ever  come  into  the  street  excep 
for  funerals,  everybody  in  the  neighbor 
hood  was  nachelly  excited  over  it  and  a  face 
at  every  window  watched  a  slight  young 
lady  and  a  little  boy  about  as  big  as  Gussy 
get  out  and  run  up  the  steps.  I  went  to 
the  door  when  the  bell  rung  and  there  stood 
the  sweetest  little  fair-haired  lady  I'd  seen 
for  many  a  day,  aholding  the  boy  by  the 
hand.  When  she  looked  up  and  asked  in 
her  pretty  eager  way  if  Mr.  Bocham- 
bray  was  there,  I  didn't  have  time  to  an 
swer  for  a  voice  it  seemed  as  if  I  hadn't 
ever  heard  before  cried,  "Natalie!"  and 
she  was  in  Jason's  arms. 

There  didn't  seem  a  very  urgerent  need 
for  me  there  so  I  went  back  to  the  setting- 
room;  but  I  could  hear  her  laughing  and 
crying  and  scolding  in  that  pretty  voice  of 
hers  through  the  closed  door.  Bymeby 
they  come  in,  Natalie  and  the  boy  (jest 
the  living  image  of  Jason)  clinging  to 
Jason's  hands,  and  the  little  feller  hiding 
220 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

his  face  in  Jason's  coat  when  he  spied  me. 

Then  Jason  said  (with  Oh!  such  a  lot 
of  pride  in  his  voice)  "Jennie,  I  want  you 
to  know  my  wife;  and  Natalie,  this  is  my 
freind,  Miss  Allen." 

"Are  you  Jennie  Allen?"  she  cries;  and 
with  that  she  come  up  to  me  and  give  me 
a  tight  hug,  asaying,  "You  blessed  thing! 
You  dear,  adorable,  blessed  thing!" 

I  was  surprised  enough,  I  can  tell  you, 
but  Jason  was  full  as  much  so.  "How  in 
the  world,"  he  says,  "do  you  know  Miss 
Jennie  Allen?" 

"Why!"  she  says;  "she's  our  good  fairy 
that  wrote  and  told  me  to  come.  She  told 
me  not  to  tell  you  but  you  know  I  alwers 
tell  you  everything." 

I  thought  I  would  sink  right  down 
through  the  floor  and  I  was  agoing  to  leave 
the  room  but  she  held  on  to  me  with  both 
her  little  hands  (she  had  lovely  hands  with 
jewels  asparkling  on  them)  and  says, 
"Please  tell  us  all  about  it,  Jennie,  because 
221 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I  don't  understand  it  myself.  All  I  know 
is  you  wrote  he  needed  me  and  told  me 
where  he  was." 

He  looked  at  me  in  amazement.  "How 
did  you  know  our  name?"  he  said.  "I 
have  never  written  it  in  this  city  nor  have 
I  had  it  on  any  of  my  belongings.  And 
how  could  you  know,  even,  that  I  had  a 
wife?" 

"O  Etien!"  she  cried  in  a  hurt  voice; 
"didn't  you  tell  her  that?" 

He  didn't  answer  her  then,  but  he  put  his 
arm  awful  tender  around  her  and  waited 
for  me  to  speak. 

"I  knew  you  was  feeling  awful  bad  and 
undecided  about  something,"  I  says;  "and 
when  I  put  a  newspaper  over  what  you'd 
ben  writing  that  time,  I  couldn't  help  see 
ing  the  first  3  words — 'Natalie,  my  Wife.' 
I  hoped  you'd  send  it  but  you  didn't  cause 
I  saw  you  tear  it  up  afterwards.  Then 
when  you  was  talking  to  Mr.  Oglevie  about 
town  government  (I  guess  most  likely  you 
222 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

remember  it)  and  you  told  him  how  a  ser- 
ten  way  to  carry  things  on  was  the  best 
way  and  he  said  it  wan't  prackitable,  you 
told  him  it  was  because  it  was  a  decisive 
success  in  a  small  town  in  Virginny." 

"Yes,  I  remember  that." 

"And  when  he  asked  you  what  town  that 
was,  you  didn't  answer  right  off  but  stopped 
a  little  bit  before  you  said  Altaville.  It 
was  you  making  that  hessytation  that  made 
me  think  maybe  that  was  where  you  lived ; 
so  I  writ  to  the  postmaster  there  asking 
the  name  of  a  lady  named  Natalie  whose 
husband  had  an  extry  dark  complection 
and  black  whiskers  atravelling  in  the  north, 
and  answering  to  the  name  of  Jason. 

"He  answered  and  that's  how  I  got  the 


name." 


"You  had  ought  to  join  the  detecting 
foarce!"  cries  Natalie;  "but  tell  me  didn't 
our  postmaster  tell  you  his  name  wasn't 
Jason?" 

"Yes,  and  I'm  glad  he  knew  who  was 
223 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

wanted,  even  with  that  mistake."  I  can't 
tell  you  how  I  hated  to  let  him  know  how 
I'd  ben  ameddling  in  his  fambly  affairs  like 
this;  and  I  was  getting  my  courage  up  to 
tell  him  I  wouldn't  of  done  it  if  I  didn't 
see  he  needed  a  freind  and  I  couldn't  think 
of  any  other  way  to  help  him;  but  I  didn't 
have  to  because  after  a  moment  he  says : 

"Jennie,  do  you  know  what  you  have 
done?  You  have  brought  me  and  my 
precious  wife  together  when,  I  fear,  we  was 
slowly  drifting  apart.  I  shall  never  speak 
of  this-  again  excepting  to  her  father  but 
we  think  we  owe  it  to  you  to  make  you  a 
full  explanation." 

"O  no,  no!"  I  says;  "I'd  rather  not  hear 
it." 

Without  paying  no  heed  to  that  he  went 
on  and  said  that  6  weeks  ago  he'd  had  a 
business  opportunity  that  would  probably 
bring  him  in  a  large  fortune  if  he  embraced 
it,  but  he  couldn't  look  upon  it  as  honest 
224 


and  he  declined  not  to  have  anything  to 
do  with  it. 

"But  my  wife,"  he  says,  "viewed  the  mat 
ter  differently"- 

"But  in  my  heart  I  didn't!"  she  inter 
rupts. 

"And  when  I  refused  to  go  into  it" — 

"Let  me  finish!"  she  cries.  "When  he 
refused  to  go  into  it  because  his  high  sense 
of  honor  wouldn't  allow  him,  though  men 
that  the  world  calls  honest  do  the  same 
thing  every  day,  I  was  so  angry  that  I  told 
him  he  didn't  care  how  poor  he  kep  me 
(I  had  alwers  wanted  a  cottage  at  New 
port)  and  I  knew  he  couldn't  go  against 
my  wishes  if  he  reely  loved  me  and  I 
wouldn't  care  if  he  went  away  and  I  never 
saw  him  again.  I  don't  know  how  I  could 
ever  say  that,  even  without  meaning  it,  to 
one  as  good  and  kind  as  he  has  alwers  ben. 
I'd  alwers  acted  like  a  spoiled  baby,  though, 
and  took  a  foolish  delight  in  showing  my 
225 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

power  over  him.  Father  used  to  say  Eti- 
en  had  too  much  patience  and  I  myself 
thought  it  had  no  limit.  But  this  time  he 
was  terrible  angry  or  else  grievously  hurt 
— I  tortured  myself  trying  to  think  which 
when  he  had  left  me. 

"He  went  away  nex  morning  leaving  a 
note  saying  he  was  going  away  on  business 
and  he  couldn't  tell  when  he  would  return. 
I  was  nearly  wild  for  I  knew  why  he  had 
gone ;  and  when  three  weeks  had  passed  and 
I'd  had  no  word  from  him  I  made  Father 
write  to  several  of  his  freinds  in  the  North 
to  find  if  they  had  seen  him  but  they  hadn't. 
(He  wrote  in  such  a  way,  Etien,  that  they 
wouldn't  know  we  had  lost  you.)  Then  I 
begged  him  to  employ  detectives  and  I 
think  he  would  have  done  so  if  your  letter 
hadn't  come.  Of  course  they  couldn't  have 
found  him  and — I  can't  bear  to  think  of  it," 
she  says,  burying  her  face  in  her  hands. 

"Then  don't  ever  think  of  it  again,  dar 
ling,"  he  says.  "That  cursed  pride  of  mine 
226 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

has  caused  you  terrible  suffering;  and  yet 
it  was  not  wholly  pride  that  kep  me  away. 
Under  my  f  reind  Jennie's  wholesome  influ 
ence  I  was  coming  round  to  considering 
only  your  good  and  your  happiness.  She 
simply  changed  over  into  a  shorter  process." 

You  can  see  as  well  that  it  wasn't  me  at 
all  but  his  conscience  and  his  love  for  his 
wife;  but  I  only  says,  "Yes,  but  I  thought 
you  was  wasting  precious  time." 

I  had  took  up  my  sewing  soon  as  they  be 
gun  to  talk  because  I  didn't  feel  so  awk- 
word  when  I  was  asewing,  but  I'd  a  good 
deal  ruther  they  hadn't  told  me  all  this. 
It  wan't  necessary  for  anybody  but  them 
selves  to  know  it.  When  I  told  him  I 
thought  he  was  wasting  time  by  making  up 
his  mind  so  slow,  he  says,  "Yes,  time  and 
that  nicely  ruled  paper  of  yours  that  I  kep 
tearing  up." 

"You  know  you  was  welcome  to  the 
paper." 

"Yes,  I  did  know  it  jest  as  I  know  I  have 
227 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

ben  welcome  to  everything  in  this  house. 
Natalie,  this  is  a  household  with  the  true 
communistic  sperit.  If  you  were  to  re 
main  here  a  year  and  contributed  nothing 
yourself  you  would  never  be  reminded  that 
you  were  using  others'  property  and  you 
wouldn't  be  from  their  standpoint.  What 
a  fine  nucleus"  (I  got  him  to  spell  this  for 
me  afterwards)  "this  would  make  for  a  new 
Brook  Farm  or  another  Utopia!" 

I  don't  know  what  he  was  driving  at  but 
I  remembered  it  all  to  write  you. 

"Even  the  baby  of  the  house  has  imbibed 
the  spirit  of  the  house  and  addresses  me  as 
Man." 

"That's  because  he  can't  say  Uncle 
Jason  yet,"  I  says. 

"I  prefer  to  think  it  is  because  he  takes 
me  for  jest  what  I  am — jest  plain  straight 


man." 


At  that  moment   Mandy's  voice   come 
from  the  kitchen  in  loud  tones — "Jason,  the 
coal  is  out!"  and  what  did  she  do  but  come 
228 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

to  the  door  and  hand  him  the  hod.  I 
thought  die  I  should  though  not  blaming 
poor  Mandy  seeing  she  wan't  expected  to 
know  who  the  elegant  dressed  lady  was. 
But  before  I  could  do  anything  about  it 
he'd  took  the  hod  jest  as  usual  and  gone 
down  to  the  bacement  for  the  coal. 

His  wife's  face  was  a  study,  as  the  saying 
is.  "Where  has  he  gone?"  she  inquiered. 

When  I  stammered  out  that  he  usually 
brought  the  coal  when  Jim  wan't  here,  first 
she  looked  puzzled  and  then  she  went  off 
in  a  peal  of  laughter  that  it  done  me  good 
to  hear.  "Oh!  oh!"  she  cried  aholding 
onto  her  heart  (she  was  all  out  of  breath 
from  laughing)  "I  never  saw  anything  so 
funny  in  all  my  life — the  proud  and  dis 
tinguished  count  of  Bochambray  carrying 
coal!" 

"Hush,  Natalie ;"  he  said  as  he  come  back 
again;  "we  are  to  lunch  to-day  with 
freinds  who  have  all  helped  to  earn  or  pre 
pare  the  meal.  Our  only  contribution  is 
229 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

my  bringing  that  fuel  upstairs.  Is  it  too 
much?" 

"Are  you  a  count?"  was  all  I  could  say. 

"Not  exackly,"  he  says,  "though  I  would 
be  if  there  were  sech  things  in  this  coun 
try,  as  I  am  the  oldest  son  in  the  direck 
line  of  the  Counts  of  Bochambray.  But 
my  fambly  for  many  generations  has  lived 
in  Virginny  so  I  would  forget  all  about  it 
if  this  small  wife  of  mine  didn't  remind  me 
of  it  on  occasions  like  this." 

I  knew  how  pleased  Mame  would  be  to 
find  out  Jason  was  a  nobleman  of  high  de 
gree,  so  when  I  saw  her  coming  I  asked 
him  if  he  wouldn't  please  introduce  Na 
talie  as  the  Countess  of  Bochambray  and 
then  I  would  introduce  him  as  the  Count, 
her  husband.  They  kind  of  larfed  at  this 
but  he  said  he  would  do  it  to  please  me. 
So  when  Mame  come  in  he  done  as  I  said. 
Natalie  looked  quite  Countessy  when  she 
was  being  introduced  but  very  uncountessy 
when  she  saw  the  baby.  She  seemed  almost 
230 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

like  a  baby  herself  when  she  made  a  dash 
for  him,  catching  him  up  and  talking  baby 
talk  to  him. 

Mame  wasn't  so  very  much  surprised 
about  Jason.  She  says,  "We  have  thought 
you  was  everything  from  a  burgler  or  a  In 
dian  down  to  a  forrin  noble  man." 

"Down?"  says  Jason  smiling. 

Mame  fell  in  love  with  Natalie  to  once 
and  Natalie  fell  in  love  with  Mame  and 
the  baby,  and  the  two  mothers  had  a  nice 
long  intercoarse  on  matters  pretaining  to 
children,  Natalie  asking  Mame's  advice 
about  how  to  reggleate  little  Adrien's  diet. 
We  soon  found  out  she'd  ben  in  the  habit 
of  regglating  it  by  letting  him  have  most 
anything  he  wanted  to  eat.  Then  she  made 
an  excuse  for  it  by  saying  with  a  pretty 
seriousness,  "I  think  after  all  nature  is  the 
best  gide.  If  Adrien  craved  a  serten  food 
it  would  seem  as  if  that  was  what  his  sys 
tem  requiered — 'don't  you  think  so,  Mrs. 
Allen?" 

231 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

And  when  Mame  wan't  looking  she  gave 
our  baby  some  chocolate  creams  out  of  her 
shattylane  bag  and  after  she  had  gone  he 
had  2  mild  spazzums  as  a  consequence. 

Speaking  of  that  bag  Mr.  Spinney  said 
last  night  it  was  a  sure-enough  shattylane 
bag  because  Natalie  was  a  shattylane  in  the 
French  langwidge,  countess  meaning  shat 
tylane.  He  knows  ever  so  many  words  in 
French  and  he  has  learnt  Sis  quite  a  lot. 
He  says  they  call  mother  mare,  which  don't 
sound  respeckful  to  me.  Now  a  mare  is 
mother  to  a  colt  more  often  than  not,  but 
it  seems  kind  of  funny  for  it  to  mean  a 
mother  to  anything  else.  Then  pair  is 
father  when  a  father  is  only  half  of  a  pair, 
and  in  some  famblies  not  even  that.  But 
more  curiouser  than  that  is  their  calling 
their  sisters  sir  though  spelling  it  soeur 
(I  wonder  where  phoneticacism  is  needed 
most,  here  or  in  France!)  and  the  only 
gleam  of  reason  I  can  see  in  the  whole  thing 
is  their  calling  a  girl's  marriage  portion 
232 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

her  dough,  though  it  sounds  slangy  even  for 
us.  But  take  it  all  in  all,  I  should  say  it 
was  an  awful  crazy  langwidge  and  I  don't 
wonder  Jason's  ancestors  wanted  to  come 
over  here  where  they  could  talk  sense. 

I  asked  Mr.  Spinney  what  home  was  in 
french  and  he  says  there  want  no  word  for 
it  reely  but  thy  have  to  say  shay  moi  in 
place  of  it  and  that  is  simply  at  me.  Aint 
that  redicklous?  So  when  thy  sing  home 
sweat  home  thay  have  to  say 

"Shay  moi,  shay,  shay  moi, 

Be  it  evar  so  umble 

Thay's  no  place  like  shay  moi." 
And  that  is 

"At  me,  at,  at  me, 

Be  it  ever  so  umble 

Thay's  no  place  like  at  me. ' 

Well,  when  Jason  and  Natalie  told  us 

they  must  leave  for  home  soon  as  dinner 

(or  lunch,  as  they  called  it)  we  felt  bad 

enough;  and  Mame  said  she  was  going  to 

233 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

send  Bub  down  to  the  shop  to  see  if  Jim 
couldn't  come  to  dinner  as  soon  as  he  got 
home  from  school  and  had  his  face  washed. 
She  done  so  and  Jim  got  off  for  an  hour 
and  a  quarter.  Soon  as  Jim  found  out  the 
folks  belonged  to  the  nobility  he  felt  awful 
awkword  and  said  he'd  a  good  deal  ruther 
they'd  be  jest  plain  folks.  Then  he  wanted 
to  know  if  he  had  got  to  keep  asaying 
"your  highness"  to  them  same  as  they  do 
in  Sir  Walter  Scort's  stones. 

Jason  give  him  a  slap  on  the  shoulder 
and  said  he'd  like  to  see  him  try  it.  "I 
don't  get  anything  but  Etien,"  he  says, 
"in  my  home  town — hardly  ever  Mr.  with 
it." 

"Is  Jason  your  middle  name?"  we  in 
quired. 

"No,  though  I  have  grown  so  attached 
to  it  I  shall  feel  like  adopting  it  perma 
nently.  My  father's  name  was  Jean  so  I 
am  J's  son — do  you  see?  and  will  you  for 
give  the  deception?  To  tell  you  the  truth," 

234 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

(but  what  follered  was  only  a  part  of  the 
truth,  as  I  alone  knew)  "I  had  ben  passing 
through  a  very  trying  experience  when  I 
come  here  and  I  was  wore  out  and  dis 
gusted  with  life.  I  wanted  to  drop  my  very 
name.  I  went  whither  the  winds  drove 
me,  not  caring  much  what  befell  me." 
(Here  his  wife  come  over  to  him  and  took 
aholt  of  his  hand,  keeping  it  in  hers  a  long 
time.)  "When  chance  brot  me  to  this 
house  I  says  to  myself,  as  well  here  as 
elsewhere,  until  circumstances  drive  me 
away  again." 

"But  circumstances  has  come,  hasn't  she, 
dear,"  says  Natalie,  "to  drive  you  home?" 
putting  her  cheek  loving  against  his. 

"I  have  suffered  much  in  my  mind  dur 
ing  this  month,"  he  went  on  as  he  returned 
her  caress,  "yet  would  not  have  missed  this 
stay  with  you  for  all  the  world.  It  has 
ben  a  relevation  to  me.  I  have  never  seen 
before  family  union  and  affection  like 
yours,  and  I  bless  the  power  that  brought 
235 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

me  to  this  little  world  of  loving  kindness." 
Natalie  hung  her  head  and  then  she 
raised  it  again,  a  whole  world  of  penitence 
and  high  ressylution  in  her  eyes.  As  for 
the  rest  of  us  we  didn't  know  what  to  make 
of  sech  a  speech ;  but  we  put  it  down  to  the 
French  being  extry  polight  and  egsagerat- 
ing  any  little  thing  you  do  for  them.  Jim 
looked  awful  uncomferble  and  finelly  he 
says,  "Look  here,  Jason;  what  you  trying  to 
get  off?  Count  or  no  count,  we  aint  ago 
ing  to  take  credit  that  all  belongs  on  tother 
side.  Here  you've  ben  giving  your  time 
aworking  for  us,  easing  up  the  burdens  of 
the  womenfolks  when  I  wan't  round." 
Here  a  gleam  of  mischif  come  into  his  eyes, 
and  he  adds,  "I  don't  know  who's  agoing 
to  clean  the  lamps  now.  I'd  like  to  know 
what's  contribbeted  to  the  brightness  of  the 
home  more  than  the  good  jorb  you  done 
on  them  lamps  after  you'd  practiced 
awhile." 

This  made   everybody  laugh   especially 
236 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Natalie  and  then  we  felt  easier.  Mr.  Spin 
ney  happened  in  and  Mame  made  him  stay 
to  dinner,  so  that  made  1 1  of  us  to  set 
round  the  table.  We  asked  Mr.  Spinney 
to  dish  up  the  soup  and  when  he  lifted  the 
cover  of  the  big  tureen  and  looked  in  he 
said  he  felt  like  Balbore  discovering  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  Jason  asked  how  many 
cows  went  to  the  making  of  a  beef  soup 
that  size. 

Mr.  Spinney  give  an  account  of  us  catch 
ing  Jason  in  the  trap  to  Natalie  and  he  set 
it  off  in  great  style. 

"We've  all  ben  trying  to  make  it  up  to 
Jason  for  what  he  went  through  with  in 
the  trap  that  night,"  says  Mame,  "because 
every  one  of  us  had  a  hand  in  it." 

"All  but  Jason  himself.  He  had  a  foot 
in  it,"  says  Mr.  Spinney. 

Natalie  remarked  'twas  no  wonder  that 
Mame's  dark  suspitions  was  aroused  by  the 
black  whiskers  and  she  now  hoped  Etien 
would  have  them  cut  off  as  she  had  long 

237 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

begged  him  to  do.  Jason  said  I  hadn't 
expressed  an  opinion  on  the  subjeck  yet  so 
I  said  I  liked  only  a  reasonable  mustash  the 
best — not  one  like  the  king  of  Germany's 
that  was  part  of  his  back  view,  but  one  like 
Mr.  Spinney's  that  showed  moderation. 
"In  fack,"  I  says,  "I  like  his  the  best  I've 
ever  come  in  contack  with." 

"O  Jen!"  they  all  shouted;  and  die  I 
thought  I  should.  I  didn't  darst  to  look 
at  him  and  he  didn't  look  at  me.  But  in 
spite  of  me  being  so  mortified  it  seemed 
lovely  to  have  that  secret  with  jest  him.  I 
suppose  it  was  on  account  of  me  not  being 
used  to  secrets.  I  now  had  2  on  my  mind. 
Jason  had  told  me  he  felt  jest  as  safe  about 
his  as  if  it  was  something  he'd  dropped  in 
a  deep  well ;  but  the  other  one  is  safer  than 
that. 

When  I  was  bringing  on  the  flapjacks 

me  and  Mandy  was  frying  for  a  topping-off 

dish  and  I  put  an  extry  large  pile  on  Jim's 

plate  on  account  of  him  being  so  hearty, 

238 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Jason  says,  "That  reminds  me,  Jim,  to  ask 
about  your  digestion  now." 

Mame  laughed  and  says  Jim  could  digest 
board  nails  if  necessary  and  asked  him  what 
he  meant,  seeing  Jim  made  no  answer. 

"Oh!"  said  Jason;  "I  jest  happened  to 
think  what  he  remarked  to  me  the  other 
day  when  I  remarked  he  wan't  smoking  as 
much  as  usual.  He  says,  "No;  I've  heard 
considdable  about  smoking  being  bad  for 
the  digestion,  and  a  feller  can't  be  too  care 
ful  about  sech  things."  That  morning  he'd 
give  me  a  half  dollar  saying  it  might  come 
in  handy  for  newspapers  and  car-fares.  I 
wondered  if  there  was  any  connection  be 
tween  them  two  things." 

"Oh!"  cried  Natalie;  "and  did  you  take 
the  money?" 

"I  did.  I  had  the  notion  to  drink  to  the 
last  drop  this  cup  of  brotherly  kindness 
held  out  to  me."  Poor  big  foolish  Jim! 
He  turned  red  clear  up  to  the  roots  of  his 
hair  and  squirmed  round  awful  in  his  seat. 
239 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Natalie  come  to  the  rescue  by  saying,  "Jen 
nie,  you  must  give  me  the  recipee  for  these 
delicious  griddle  cakes."  And  then  she 
syruptitiously  helped  Adrien  to  another. 

Jim  said  as  this  wan't  no  ordinerry  occa 
sion  there  had  ought  to  be  an  after  dinnar 
speach.  "Furthermore  than  this,"  he  says, 
"my  freind  Mr.  E.  J.  Spinney  is  the  one  to 
do  it." 

So  jest  to  oblige  he  riz  up  and  spoke  off 
a  beautiful  speach  though  we  could  see  he 
was  awfull  embarassed  and  mortifide.  He 
says,  "At  sech  moments  as  this  I  understand 
the  self-possession  of  Dannie  in  the  lion's 
Den.  He  knew  whatever  happened  he 
wouldent  have  to  make  the  after  dinnar 
speach." 

After  Jim  had  gone  back  to  the  shop 
Jason  told  Mr.  Spinney  he  wished  to  see 
him  a  few  moments  in  private  as  he  had  a 
matter  to  talk  over  with  him.  I  was  glad 
he  was  going  to  have  his  life  insured. 
We'd  found  out  by  this  time  that  he  was  a 
240 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

rich  man  (Adrien  had  told  his  father  that 
2  of  the  ottoes  was  being  repaired  up  and 
also  showed  our  boys  a  toy  pistol  the  coach 
man  had  give  him)  but  as  Mr.  Spinney 
often  remarks,  life  insurance  money  is 
the  only  kind  of  riches  that  don't  take 
wings ;  and  what  would  that  pretty  childish 
little  Natalie  do  if  he  was  took  away  and 
she  was  left  unprovided  for  to  staggar  un 
der  the  pitfalls  of  life? 

Then  again  I  was  glad  he  was  giving  him 
this  business  because  it  has  always  greaved 
me  that  Mr.  Spinney  hadn't  taken  to  him 
same  as  the  rest  of  us  did  and  this  would 
kind  of  pleassant  him  up.  And  sure 
enough !  when  they  come  out  of  the  parlor 
after  their  talk  Mr.  Spinney  did  look  awful 
pleassant,  though  quite  quiet  and  subdewed 
but  cherked  up  when  they  was  going  away 
and  kep  things  from  being  sad  and  sollem. 
Jason  didn't  make  no  more  speeches,  for 
which  we  was  thankful,  but  jest  shook 
hands  all  round.  Natalie  kissed  everybody 
241 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

and  when  she  come  to  me  she  looked  awful 
roguish  and  was  jest  agoing  to  say  some 
thing  when  she  saw  Jason  looking  at  her 
and  stopped.  But  she  took  my  face  be 
tween  2  of  her  hands  and  kissed  me  half  a 
dozen  times  at  the  last  moment  she  looked 
back  with  that  same  roagish  look  same  as 
Bub  and  Gussy  looks  when  they  are  up  to 
some  of  their  tantrums.  She  aint  nothing 
but  a  child  and  wont  ever  be  anything  else 
and  Jason  has  got  his  hands  full  with  her; 
a  very  fassinating  handful,  Mr.  Spinney 
called  her  when  I  made  the  remark  out 
loud. 

At  the  supper  table  it  was  jest  as  if  a 
funerel  had  took  place.  Mandy's  eyes  was 
all  redded  up  showing  she'd  ben  crying. 
Jim  sunk  his  chin  on  his  chest  and  forgot 
to  eat.  Hardly  any  one  spoke,  our  hearts 
was  so  heavy. 

At  last  Gussy  says  (his  lips  aquivering) 
"Father,  let's  set  the  trap  again  to-night." 
Your  true  freind,         Jennie  Allen. 
242 


XXIII 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  recolleck  telling  you  about  Mame 
reading  out  loud  to  us  evenings.  Some 
times  she  reads  the  sermons  of  a  famous 
minister  in  the  New  York  Breaze,  and  we 
all  like  them.  They  seem  to  take  right 
aholt  of  you  and  make  religion  reel  and 
helping  as  you  go  along.  He  is  awful  high 
church  and  we  are  Baptists  but  that  don't 
make  no  odds — there's  enough  common 
ground  for  both  to  stand  on  and  them  ser 
mons  goes  right  to  the  spot.  Well,  weve 
listened  to  them  read  and  theyve  done  us 
all  good;  but  as  for  any  of  us  ever  seeing 
the  minister  that  wrote  them,  we  would  jest 
as  soon  think  of  seeing  King  Solomon  or 
Tenniston. 

243 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Well,  yesterday  he  was  here  in  this  set 
ting-room,  ajoking,  and  alaughing  and 
atalking  with  us! 

And  it  wasn't  on  general  principals,  same 
as  ministers  goes  round  sometimes  to  kind 
of  religify  people  up,  but  it  was  because 
it  was  us  and  nobody  else. 

So  many  remarkable  occurrences  has  took 
place  here  lately  that  now  I  shouldn't  be 
so  awful  surprised  if  the  angel  Gabrial  flew 
right  into  our  setting-room  and  handed  one 
of  us  his  trumpet  asaying,  "Here,  you  give 
this  thing  a  blow!  I'm  out  of  breath  from 
flying  so  swift  and  aint  got  the  wind  for 
it!" 

That  would  be  wonderful  enough,  but 
considering  weve  all  had  our  thoughts  and 
dreams  about  Gabrial  in  one  way  and  an 
other,  and  ackchelly  look  forrard  to  see 
ing  him  some  time,  his  sudden  appearance 
wouldn't  seem  half  so  wonderful  as  this 
great  devign  eating  3  of  Mandy's  hot  cookys 
on  this  very  spot! 

244 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I  wouldn't  ever  have  darsted  to  offer  him 
sech  ordinnery  vittles,  but  he  smelt  them 
and  said  he  would  like  one  if  it  was  con 
venient.  I  told  him  I  would  give  him  a 
reciept  for  them  to  take  home  seeing  he 
appeared  to  relish  them  but  he  laughed 
and  says,  "If  I  gave  you  a  reciept  for  them 
it  would  be  more  business-like." 

But  I'm  getting  clear  ahead  of  my  story. 
In  the  morning  I'd  gone  down  stairs  to  feed 
Bub's  rabbits  (dear  little  feller  he's  got  so 
much  on  his  mind  he  forgets  them  quite 
frequent)  and  when  I  come  up  Mandy  was 
jest  acoming  out  of  the  setting-room,  and 
she  made  signs  and  motions  that  somebody 
wanted  to  see  me  in  there.  I  went  in  and 
there  sat  a  great  big,  prosperous-looking 
gentleman  with  a  smooth  face  weighing 
about  1 80  pounds.  He  had  a  beautiful 
shiny  beaver  hat  and  a  cane  in  his  hand  and 
his  close  was  sech  nice  broadcloth  and  he 
looked  so  slick  and  clean  generally  he  made 
the  furniture  look  faded  and  old. 

245 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"How  do  you  do,  Jennie?"  he  says,  asmil- 
ing,  and  arising  to  meet  me. 

Jennie  I  think  of  that! 

"I'm  pretty  well,  thank  you, — but  I  aint 
never  seen  you  before." 

"Look  at  me  again/'  he  says,  "and  see  if 
you  can't  guess." 

I  looked  at  him.  It  was  a  pleessant  face 
to  look  at — good  and  kind  and  a  twinkle  in 
his  eye — but  I  had  to  say  again  it  was  the 
first  time  I  ever  saw  it. 

"Mandy  didn't  know  me  either,  but  I'd 
feel  bad  enough  if  Jim  didn't."  He  looked 
round  the  room  and  his  eye  rested  on  the 
mantle  shelf.  "I  see  Capten  Silliker's  ivory 
ship  didn't  get  broke  in  moving.  I'm  glad, 
for  I  always  loved  that  ship." 

Then  I  knew  he  was  Chictooset  but  even 
then  I  couldn't  make  out  who  in  particular 
he  was;  but  I  could  see  he  was  bound  not 
to  tell  me. 

"Jennie,"  he  says,  and  the  twinkle  in  his 
eye  kep  agrowing  brighter,  "Jennie,  have 
246 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

you  ever  ben  able  to  learn  how  to  cut  off 
siphers  in  short  division?" 

By  this  time  the  way  his  eyes  kind  of 
went  up  at  the  corners  and  him  having  a 
cowlick  begun  to  look  familiar,  and  I 
says, 

"Are  you  any  relation  to  Willie  Jame 
son?" 

"I  am  Willie  Jameson!"  and  then  he 
bursted  into  a  hearty  laugh  because  he  saw 
I  didn't  believe  a  word  of  it. 

"How  can  you  be  Willie  Jameson?"  I 
says  thinking  of  the  poor  little  shadder  of  a 
child  that  had  faded  out  of  life  years  ago 
(so  we  thought)  and  looked  into  the  large, 
strong  feachers  of  this  man. 

"It's  a  good  deal  easier  than  it  used  to 
be,"  he  says;  "It  was  a  pretty  hard  thing 
being  Willie  Jameson  20  years  ago.  Come, 
Jennie,  let's  set  down  and  have  a  talk  about 
the  old  days  in  Chictooset." 

But  I  couldnt  hardly  believe  him  yet,  in 
spite  of  his  words,  and  the  cowlick,  and  his 
247 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

blue  eyes  going  up  at  the  corners.  It  wasn't 
so  much  him  being  large  and  stout  (lots  of 
people  puts  on  flesh)  and  it  want  the  good 
close;  it  was  the  strenth  and  power  I  could 
see  in  the  man.  He  seemed  like  one  that 
could  accomplice  anything  he  set  out,  and 
could  make  other  folks  do  what  he  wanted 
them  to.  All  this  was  so  fur  away  from 
Jim's  little  playmate  that  always  acted  like 
he  didn't  have  no  right  to  be  here,  no  won 
der  I  was  slow  to  believe. 

"You  must  excuse  me  sir,"  I  says,  "I  will 
get  round  to  believing  it  byme-by  but  as 
fur  as  I've  got  now  is  to  thinking  that 
Willie  (he  was  so  small  and  weak)  is  noth 
ing  but  a  little  kernal  somewheres  round  in 
side  of  you." 

He  give  another  hearty  laugh.  "Well, 
Jennie,"  he  says,  "there's  no  mistaking  your 
indemnity  even  if  your  face  had  changed 
much,  which  it  hasn't.  Your  idea  of  the 
old-time  Willie  being  a  kernal  of  what  I 
am  now  is  sertenly  true  in  idea." 
248 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

Then  he  told  how  he  happened  to  find 
out  where  we  was  living  and  all  about  us. 
He  was  to  a  dinner  in  Boston  and  Lyddy 
Rogers  was  there.  "Lyddy's  improved  a 
lot  exterially,"  he  says,  "but  she's  still  got 
that  sharp  tongue.  I'm  sorry  because  I'm 
afraid  she  makes  enemies  by  it.  She  made 
2  or  3  personal  remarks  at  the  table  that 
amused  us  all  so  much  we  had  to  laugh  be 
fore  we  had  time  to  pity  the  victems,  and 
they  was  right  there.  Well,  the  people  got 
to  talking  about  curious  eppitarfs  they'd 
seen  and  heard  of,  and  Miss  Rogers 
(neither  of  us  then  had  any  idea  we'd  even 
ever  seen  each  other  beforCj  let  alone  her 
chasing  me  out  of  her  yard  with  a  stick 
when  I  went  in  to  get  Jake  Billings's  ball 
for  him)  she  recited  off  that  one  about 
Capten  Silliker's  wife,  and  said  she  knew  it 
for  a  fack  because  she'd  seen  it  regular  for 
over  25  years. 

"Did  you  live  in  Chictooset?"  I  asked 
her. 

249 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Yes,"  she  says;  "what  do  you  know 
about  Chictooset?" 

"Then  I  told  her  about  me  living  there 
for  a  while  when  I  was  a  child,  but 
she  didn't  have  no  recollection  of  me.  But 
later  we  had  a  pleasant  chat  over  Chictoo 
set  people,  and  principally  we  talked  of 
your  mother.  I  told  Miss  Rogers,  and  I 
tell  you  now,  Jennie,  that  your  mother  has 
always  been  to  me  the  ideel  of  what  a 
woman  had  ought  be.  Not  a  quality  was 
lacking  which'  she  had  ought  to  possess, 
even  to  that  sweet  unreasonableness  that  is 
a  fond  mother's  right.  All  the  mothering 
I  ever  had  was  what  she  gave  me. 

"Once  I  told  a  lie  to  the  school-teacher. 
I'd  knocked  a  chiny  vase  off  of  her  desk  by 
accident  and  it  broke,  but  when  she  ques 
tioned  me  about  it  I  was  too  frightened  to 
tell  the  truth.  I  know  I  could  not  have 
been  naturally  untruthful  because  that  sin 
was  a  terrible  weight  on  my  soul.  I  felt 
an  impulse  to  tell  some  one  of  it,  and  when 
250 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

that  impulse  grew  to  strong  to  be  resisted 
I  went  straight  to  your  mother. 

"How  well  I  remember  that  morning! 
She  was  alone  in  the  plessant  kitchen, 
where  bright  geraniums  was  blossoming 
in  tin  cans  in  the  windows  and  there  was  a 
delightful  oder  of  fresh  baked  bread  in  the 
air.  It  was  cold  and  raw  outside  but  here 
was  plessant  warmth  and  brightness.  I 
can  see  now  the  brisk  little  figure  of  your 
mother  as  she  flitted  busyly  about  the  room. 
When  I'd  told  her  my  miserable  story 
about  the  falsehood  (and  I  thought  she'd 
never  let  Jim  play  with  me  again)  she  jest 
patted  me  on  the  head  and  says, —  (the  in 
consequence  is  my  happiest  memory)  she 
says,  "Willie,  don't  you  want  a  slice  of  my 
nice  hot  bread  with  molasses  on  it?"  and 
she  spread  it  and  handed  it  to  me.  "But 
aint  I  got  to  tell  the  teacher  what  I  done?" 
I  asked  her. 

"Law  no,   dear;    I    always   let   sleeping 
dogs  lie." 

251 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"I  didn't  know  what  she  meant  by  calling 
me  a  sleeping  dog,  but  I  felt  I  deserved  the 
worst  that  could  be  said  and  this  didn't 
sound  very  bad.  Then  she  added  as  I  hap 
pily  devoured  my  lunch,  "I  will  fix  it  all 
right  with  the  teacher  for  you.  You  aint 
got  anything  to  worry  about." 

"O  what  a  wise  woman  she  was!  Her 
way  would  be  denounced  as  a  wrong  one  by 
many,  but  I  never  told  another  falsehood, 
— let  that  tell  the  story. 

"Her  own  boy  never  lied,  but  he  had  a 
strong  hand  and  a  mother  like  that  to  stand 
behind  his  daring  truth,  and  I  know  she 
realized  the  differance.  I  am  an  Episco- 
lapian  minnister;  I  spend  many  hours 
every  week  in  the  confessionel  and  in  deal 
ing  with  my  penitents  I  think  of  my  own 
first  confession  in  that  dear  New  England 
kichen  and  I  am  inspired  by  the  example 
of  that  little  Baptist  mother  down  in  Chic- 
tooset." 

Then  he  lowered  his  voice  down  as  if  he 
252 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

was  aspeaking  of  something  holy  and  says, 
"Some  day  I  am  going  to  make  a  pilgrim 
age  to  her  grave.  I  have  in  mind  the  very 
vine — one  with  small  white  blossoms — that 
I  will  plant  upon  it.  If  I  have  done  some 
thing  to  aid  my  fellows  in  life  I  have  been 
helped  to  do  it  by  the  memory  of  the  one 
who  lies  there." 

We  set  silent  a  little  while  after  that  and 
soon  afterwards  he  riz  up  to  go. 

But  he  said  he  was  coming  again  in  the 
evening  when  Jim  would  be  to  home.  He 
said  he  wanted  to  see  Jim's  wife,  too,  al 
though  him  and  her  hadn't  ever  seen  each 
other.  Mame's  folks  lived  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Crick  when  he  was  in  Chictooset 
and  she  was  too  little  to  go  to  school. 

We  couldn't  hardly  wait  to  tell  Jim 
about  it.  It  wan't  till  Willie  was  gone  that 
we  found  out  by  putting  this  and  that  to 
gether  that  he  was  the  great  Doctor  Jame 
son  that  writes  them  sermons!  There  wan't 
no  doubt  about  it  because  he'd  told  me  the 

253 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

name  of  his  church  and  Mame  said  that 
was  Doctor  Jameson's,  she  knew,  and  she 
hunted  it  up  in  the  paper  where  it  told 
about  it  and  showed  it  to  me. 

And  to  think  the  preacher  of  them  ser 
mons  had  known  and  been  helped  by 
Mother!  I'd  ought  to  be  prouder  than 
ever  of  Mother  now,  only  I  can't  be.  But 
my  heart  goes  out  in  grattytude  that  some 
folks  that  is  poor  and  unhappy  is  helped  by 
her  even  now. 

Mandy  was  the  first  to  see  Jim  when  he 
got  home,  and  she  sings  out,  "Jim!  Doctor 
Jameson  that  writes  the  sermons  that  we 
like  in  the  New  York  Breaze  has  been  here 
and  he  has  took  away  the  reciept  for  my 
cookys !" 

"Mandy,"  says  Jim,  awful  worried, 
"you'd  better  lay  down  a  spell  and  keep 
kind  of  quiet.  I'll  fetch  in  a  handkerchief 
wrung  out  of  cold  water,  to  tie  round  your 
head  and  you  jest  compose  yourself  the  best 
you  can.  I  guess  probbly  we  hadn't  ought 

254 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

to  have  read  so  many  of  them  sermons  to 
you.    It  has  had  a  bad  effeck." 

As  he  went  out  to  the  kitchen  Mame  met 
him  and  cries,  "Oh,  Jim!  that  little  Willie 
Jameson  you  used  to  play  with  in  Chictoo- 
set  has  been  here  and  he's  coming  again  this 
evening  to  see  you!  He's  jest  great!" 

"I  thought  he  was  dead.  Look  here!  I 
aint  got  to  put  a  wet  handkerchief  round 
your  head,  too,  have  I?" 

Well  between  us  all  we  explained  it  to 
Jim,  and  it  put  him  into  a  mixed-up  state 
of  mind,  on  account  of  him  being  about 
equally  divided  between  joy  about  seeing 
Willie  again  and  being  scared  to  face  the 
great  preacher. 

"I  can't  make  'em  seem  like  one  person," 
he  says;  "it's  like  when  you  are  looking 
cross-eyed  and  one  objeck  looks  like  two. 
When  your  eyes  is  straightened  out,  though, 
the  thing  settles  down  to  one,  and  I'm  hop 
ing  that  will  be  the  way  with  Willie  and 
Doctor  Jameson." 

255 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

And  when  they  (I  mean  he)  come  again 
in  the  evening  it  wan't  near  so  hard  as  he'd 
calkilated.  Him  and  Jim  had  a  beautiful 
talk  over  their  play-days  together.  Willie 
spoke  of  Mother  again  and  said  she  always 
looked  like  the  little  lady  she  was. 

"I  remember,"  he  says,  "that  her  bunnet 
was  aways  crape." 

"And  her  slippers  was  always  felt,"  says 
Jim  reminiciously. 

"Then  slippers,  Jim,"  says  Willie,  "was 
the  sculptor's  spatulam  that  she  licked  you 
into  shape  with.  And  a  noble  work  she 
done!  Lyddy  Rogers  has  told  me  of  your 
fine  manhood,  and  she  says  that  if  there  was 
many  American  citizens  like  you  the  coun 
try  would  be  something  to  boast  of." 

Jim  can't  stand  anything  like  that,  so  he 
breaks  in  and  says,  "Recolleck,  Willie,  the 
time  we  was  going  to  make  molasses  candy 
and  you  had  to  work  and  couldn't  come? 
And  we  saved  some  of  the  candy  for  you?" 

"Course  I  recolleck  that.  Do  you  spose 
256 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

I've  tasted  anything  so  good  since  as  them 
half-dozen  pieces  of  black  stickiness  that  I 
had  to  gouge  with  a  knife  out  of  the  thick 
white  saucer?  Talk  of  ambrosia!  Oh,  the 
Paradise  that  kitchen  was  to  me!  The 
big  pine  table  (scoured  so  white  with 
sand)  where  we  used  to  do  our  sums  in  the 
evenings,  and  the  shelf  above  it  that  held 
the  tall  pile  of  back  numbers  of  The  Boy's 
Companion  for  us  to  feast  upon  when  we'd 
covered  our  slates  with  figures!  Do  you 
recolleck  the  continuous  story  about  the 
spelling  match  we  read  together?" 

Before  he  went  away  he  told  us  all  about 
his  life  after  he  left  Chictooset.  His  uncle 
had  died  soon  after  and  he'd  gone  to  work 
for  a  farmer  in  Ohio.  It  was  a  fine  farm 
and  the  man  and  his  wife  was  kind  and, 
seeing  he  wan't  rugged,  didn't  put  any 
heavy  work  on  him,  and  in  a  few  years  he 
grew  strong  and  hearty.  He  had  gone  to 
school  pretty  regular,  and  he'd  made  up  his 
mind  to  work  his  way  through  college.  "I 
257 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

done  so,"  he  says,  "and  little  by  little  I  have 
reached  the  place  where  I  am  now.  All 
along  the  way  there  have  been  helping 
hands  held  out  to  me.  I  hope  I  shall  live 
long  enough  to  give  back  to  the  world  much 
of  the  good  I  have  received  from  it.  Every 
day  I  am  more  impressed  with  how  fine  a 
thing  humanity  is,  and  perhaps  it  is  cheafly 
in  my  profession  that  deals  with  people's 
souls  that  we  can  see  to  what  sublime 
heighths  it  can  reach !" 

"And  don't  you  see  lots  of  the  other  kind 
of  people,  too?"  Mame  asked  him. 

"Yes — God  pity  them!  God  pity  them!" 
Later  he  told  us  that  he  was  going  to 
preach  in  Saint  Anselm's  the  next  Sunday 
and  he  wanted  us  all  to  come.  So  we  have 
got  that  to  look  forrard  to  and  we  are  al 
most  counting  the  minutes  till  then.  He  is 
going  to  have  a  pue  saved  for  just  us. 
Wont  it  be  beautiful!  Oh,  Jim  is  so  proud 
of  Willie  he  don't  know  how  to  express  it. 
He  has  got  out  the  old  sermons  and  Mame 
258 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

is  reading  them  to  us  all  over  again.  Don't 
we  have  beautiful  things  happen  to  us  all 
the  time! 

Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


259 


XXIV 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  got  your  bundle  of  work  all  right  and 
I  will  get  it  all  done  in  time  so  you  can 
send  them  away  for  Christmas.  There's 
an  awfull  lot  of  common  sence  in  that  bun 
dle  and  very  little  foolishness.  I  think 
about  5  per  cent  of  foolishness  is  about  right 
for  Christmas  gifs.  You  leave  that  out  and 
it  seems  too  much  like  bisness.  But  Christ 
mas  is  carried  to  sech  an  excess  by  some 
foks  that  feel  they  must  swap  pressants 
with  everybody  they  know,  no  matter  if  it 
don't  leave  enough  to  pay  their  bills  that 
it  is  a  curce  instead  of  a  blessing,  leaving 
unlimbered  evils  afollering  in  its  train. 
This  form  of  it  is  more  deadly  in  its  results 
than  the  fourth  of  July.  The  fourth  com 
monly  finishes  up  its  victims  to  once  eather 
260 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

one  way  or  another  but  the  aggregated  form 
of  Christmassing  brings  on  a  warpation  of 
your  sence  of  honesty  along  with  fizzical 
weariness  leading  sometimes  to  the  grave 
after  years  of  a  cute  suffering  and  docter's 
bills.  They  don't  alwers  know  what 
fetched  it  on,  and  I've  heard  more  than  one 
lay  it  to  the  jenuerry  thaw  that  they  wan't 
feeling  quite  so  spruce  as  they  was  along 
the  first  of  the  winter. 

At  sech  moments  my  eyes  is  more  than 
likely  to  wander  to  some  foolish  hat-pin  or 
weak-minded  and  unbecoming  collarette 
that  she  dident  have  the  privilidge  of  pick 
ing  out  herself  and  the  remark  forms  itself 
inside  me,  "It's  a  case  of  a  cute  Christmas- 
sitis." 

I've  got  so  I  know  the  Christmas  shop 
per's  face  when  I  see  it  and  it's  werse  than 
the  bysickle  face  or  the  motor  face.  It's 
the  werst  face  there  is.  But  wait  till  the 
beauty  specielists  get  after  it.  Then  the 
cause  of  it  will  have  to  go.  The  f  ashel  mas< 
261 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

soozes  have  done  what  the  preachers  could 
not  do.  They  teach  that  a  serean  county- 
nence  keeps  old  age  and  wrinkles  at  bay  and 
the  women  folks  clere  their  brows  and  as- 
soom  a  look  of  peace  and  good  will  toards 
all  mankind.  And  I  don't  beleive  you  can 
wear  that  look  without  some  little  speck  of 
a  corrisponding  feeling  underneath.  A 
nabor  was  in  here  one  day  with  her  2  ob 
streperous  little  ones  and  we  took  notice 
that  while  she  was  giving  them  hail  Col- 
umby  and  calling  them  a  variety  of  on- 
plessant  things,  her  face  was  all  the  time 
like  a  plassid  summer  sea.  When  Mame 
spoke  of  it  she  said,  "Yes,  I  saccrefize 
everything  for  these  youngones,  but  I  vow 
if  I'll  wrinkle  up  my  face  for  'em.  Why!" 
she  says;  "I  know  of  sociarty  women  that 
wouldent  scowl  for  100$,  though  their 
hearts  was  a  tangle  of  scowls.  And  why 
not?"  she  says;  "wouldent  it  be  a  poor  miz- 
zable  kind  of  a  housekeeper  that  would  tol- 
urate  a  mess  of  wrinkles  in  her  wall  paper 
262 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

or  carpet?  And  aint  your  face  as  much  ac 
count  as  them?" 

This  sounded  sencible  and  we  had  to  give 
in  that  next  best  to  having  no  worries  over 
petty  things  and  no  hateful  feelings  was 
keeping  'em  below  the  surface  when  you 
did  have  'em. 

But  speaking  of  Christmas,  aint  it  a 
blessed,  joyful  time  for  the  children!  It 
don't  bring  worry  or  trouble  to  them  but 
only  pure  and  unmitagated  happiness.  It 
don't  requier  but  10  cents  outlay  with  most 
little  ones  for  their  stockings  to  bring  the 
kingdom  of  Heaven  right  down  to  them. 
And  wouldn't  it  be  fine  even  now  if  we  got 
a  watch  that  showed  time  to  stand  still  for 
us  as  it  did  then  on  the  5  cent  variety?  And 
how  many  an  anxious  mother  wishfully  re 
calls  her  first  baby  of  wood  or  chiny  that 
wouldent  ever  wander  away  from  her? 
And  as  for  the  small  no-account  perse  with 
its  one  bright  cent,  all  the  wealth  of  the 
rocky  fellers  can't  perchess  now  what  we 
263 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

planned  to  get  with  that.  Up  to  the  time 
the  childern  learn  the  cash  vallew  of  things 
Christmas  is  all  it  had  ought  to  be;  after 
that  comes  the  commershel  element  and 
lurks  in  the  toe  of  every  stocking.  I  know 
a  cupple  of  years  from  now  Gussy  wont  be 
so  tickeled  with  the  2-cent  whistle  he  has 
got  for  his  mother.  By  that  time  he  has 
got  to  torcher  his  poor  little  brain  to  find 
out  if  it  is  the  most  sootable  pressant  and 
the  very  biggest  he  can  get  for  the  money 
and  all  of  us  big  folks  will  have  to  disgust 
it  with  him.  Now  he  can't  wait  for  the 
time  to  come  to  Put  that  foolish  trifle  in  her 
stocking  and  see  her  joy  in  the  morning 
when  she  finds  it  there.  Mame  has  got 
verry  coarse  veins  and  has  to  wear  rubber 
hose.  So  Bub  and  Gussy  has  both  begged 
for  one  to  hang  up  because  Santy  can 
stretch  them.  I  aint  got  but  very  little 
patience  with  folks  that  gab  about  it  being 
wrong  to  learn  the  children  the  Santy 
Claus  myth  because  they  say  when  their 
264 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

powers  and  intellex  is  awoke  and  they  find 
themselves  decieved  it  makes  them  shakey 
about  religious  truths.  I  know  it  aint  so 
because  long  after  Sis  had  found  out  there 
want  no  Santy  from  a  boy,  there  come  that 
dretful  coal  strike  that  winter  when  every 
body  was  suffering  from  cold,  and  it  come 
into  that  wise  little  head  of  hers  about  one 
place  where  there  aint  ever  any  scarity  of 
heat,  and  she  says  to  her  Father,  "Father, 
why  don't  they  dig  holes  down  in  -the 
ground  to  the  bad  place  and  put  registers 
ovar  them  and  let  up  a  lot  of  heat  for  poor 
people?" 

Them  things  is  jest  as  reel  to  her  as  the 
air  she  breathes  and  she  never  douts  any- 
things  she  learns  in  Sunday  School.  I 
wisht  Bub  had  as  much  faith,  once  after  I 
told  him  about  Dannie  in  the  Lion's  den  6 
times  and  he  wanted  to  hear  the  story  again, 
and  I  told  him  I  was  tired  of  telling  it,  he 
says,  "Then  make  up  another  one." 

All  of  us  big  folks  knows  there  is  reely  a 
265 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

kind  of  Santy.  It  aint  ackchelly  one  per 
son  but  it's  all  the  love  and  kindness  of  re 
lations  and  freinds  put  into  this  small  pack- 
edge  so  children  can  sence  it.  We  know 
there  is  an  awful  lot  of  good  things  com 
ing  to  us  all  the  time  and  what  ords  does 
it  make  whether  one  person  feches  it  down 
the  chimbley  Christmas  morning  or  every 
body  keeps  bringing  it  to  us  through  the 
year? 

No;  beleiving  in  Santy  wont  never  make 
our  little  ones  shakey  on  religion,  but  I 
know  what  will  and  that's  the  new  spelling. 
There  aint  no  sense  to  my  mind  in  revolut- 
ing  our  spelling.  I  had  an  awful  time  this 
fall  learning  Bub  a  cupple  of  hard  words, 
being  obliged  to  resort  to  quite  sevear 
methods  so  you  could  hear  him  holler  clear 
down  in  the  street,  and  now  according  to 
that  new  dictionerry  the  way  he  spelt  them 
was  right  and  the  way  I  spanked  them  into 
him  was  wrong. 

It  don't  only  seem  foolish  but  ackchelly 
266 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

wicked  to  trifle  with  sech  things.  They  will 
be  tampering  with  the  Muttipication  table 
next,  and  I  always  think  now  when  I'm 
learning  the  childern  that  7  times  8  is  56 
that  praps  nex  year  at  this  time  it  will 
make  32  or  maybe  48 ;  and  it  gives  me  an 
unsettled  fealing  and  keeps  me  from  being 
as  ferm  with  him  as  I  had  ought  to  be,  not 
so  very  differant  from  quitting  beleif  in 
God. 

This  change  in  spelling  comes  from  so 
many  folks  breaking  away  from  all  kinds 
of  law,  human  and  devign  and  ledgislatera- 
tive,  and  it's  one  of  the  beginnings  of  ar- 
nachy,  as  I  look  at  it  as  well  as  thinning 
out  religion.  What  kind  of  a  sight  would 
the  Bible  make  printed  out  in  the  new  man 
ner?  Could  we  have  as  much  respeck  for 
the  apossle  Pol  (so  wrote)  as  we  do  with 
his  dipthong  in  the  place  it  has  ockipied 
for  centuaries?  Mr.  Spinney  thinks  so, 
too,  and  he  says  anybody  can  see  that  re 
moving  an  1  from  the  bad  place  reduces  it 
267 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

in  size.  And  that  makes  me  think  why  is 
it  people  so  often  make  a  dash  in  the  mid 
dle  of  hell?  I  mean  like  this:  h-11,  jest  as 
if  all  the  cussedness  was  lodged  in  that  in 
nocent  little  e.  And  in  other  words,  too, 
they  are  scared  to  speak  out  plain,  and  some 
times  it  leads  to  mistakes,  like  when  a 
friend  of  Jim's  one  cold  night  last  winter 
referred  to  that  blankety  blankety  bed  of 
his  when  the  fack  he  was  trying  to  bring 
out  was  that  it  wasn't  blankety  at  all. 
Folks  had  ought  to  say  what  they  mean  un 
less  they  mean  something  they  hadent 
ought  to  say. 

Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


268 


XXV 

Christmas  Afternoon 

Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

We've  had  a  splendid  time  to-day.  We 
grown-up  folks  had  agreed  not  to  give 
presents  to  each  other,  but  it  come  out  that 
we  done  it  jest  the  same.  We  3  women 
folks  made  4  of  a  new  kind  of  shirt  for 
Jim — a  stilish  kind,  and  we  asked  him  how 
they  fitted.  "Like  hell,"  he  says. 

Mame  told  him  it  wasn't  only  wicked  to 
use  sech  expressions,  but  furthermore  it 
was  foolish.  "What  sence  is  there,"  she 
says,  "in  saying  them  poor  inoffensive 
shirts  fit  like  the  place  you  mention?" 

"It's  easy  enough  to  get  into  them,"  he 
says,  "but  it's  impossible  to  get  out  of  'em 
again." 

We  neglected  a  good  many  things  round 
269 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

the  house  during  the  Christmas  rush.  The 
children  had  to  look  after  themselves  quite 
a  lot. 

We  was  awful  mortifide  at  something 
Gussy  said  in  school.  It  seems  his  face 
wasn't  clean  and  his  teacher  took  notice  of 
it.  "I  know,  little  boy,"  she  says,  "what 
you  had  for  breakfast  this  morning.  It 
was  an  egg." 

"No,  that  was  yesterday  morning,"  he 
says. 

Mame  had  to  write  her  a  note  and 
smooth  it  over.  I  offered  to  do  it  as  she 
was  busy  but  she  wouldn't  let  me.  She  is 
awful  thoughtful  of  me  at  times. 

Mrs.  Ezry  Sawyer  come  in  this  morning 
with  her  purse  out  of  which  she  poured 
coals  of  fire  on  my  head.  She  told  me  she 
had  sent  on  400$  to  Ben  and  she'd  jest  had 
a  telegraft  despatch  telling  her  I  wont  say 
how  much  money  he  has  made  with  it  and 
has  put  it  in  the  bank.  A  check  book  is  to 
270 


If  s  easy  enough  to  get  into  them,'1''  he  says,  "  but  it* s  impossible 
to  get  out  of  'em  again  " 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

foller  by  mail.     She  says  it  has  jest  took 
her  breath  away. 

She  said  if  I  had  sent  Y5  of  it  why  Vs  of 
this  large  sum  would  be  mine  and  she 
fetched  me  in  20$  towards  going  to  Chic- 
tooset  in  the  spring.  I  told  her  it  didn't 
seem  right  or  consistant  to  take  it.  She'd 
risked  her  money  which  I  wouldn't  do  and 
she'd  had  the  job  of  fixing  up  her  con 
science  so  it  done  its  prompting  to  suit  her 
(and  I  wouldn't  do  that  either)  and  I 
wasn't  mean  enough  to  reap  the  benefit 
from  it.  Then  she  said,  I  had  done  more 
than  that  worth  for  her  anyway  and  she  was 
glad  to  be  able  to  pay  me  back. 

"Not  with  that  money,"  I  says. 

"It's  good  money,  Jennie,"  she  replies. 

"Taint,"  says  Mr.  Spinney. 

It  was  worth  all  the  sacriface  to  see  he 
was  on  my  side.    Talk  about  men  of  busi 
ness  getting  their  sense  of  honesty  blunted 
up!    That  aint  him! 
.271 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

We  had  hated  to  tell  her  about  Jason  be 
ing  a  married  man  and  his  wife  coming 
and  accompanying  him  home.  I  didn't 
look  at  her  when  I  told  her  (kind  of 
casual)  and  done  it  when  I  was  threading 
the  machine  needle  and  the  others  was  out 
of  the  room.  I  pitied  her  for  I  knew  she'd 
realize  she'd  made  a  fool  of  herself.  It 
took  me  a  long  time  to  thread  the  needle, 
long  enough  for  her  to  recover  herself. 

"Whats  she  look  like?"  she  says  at  last 
in  a  blunt  tone. 

I  want  going  to  describe  her  (who 
could  describe  Natalie,  that  cross  between 
a  butterfly  and  a  kitten)  because  I  didn't 
want  to  show  sech  a  contrast;  so  I  jest 
said, 

"Oh!  she  was  a  very  good-looking 
woman  and  quite  nice  and  sociable  in  her 
ways,  and  him  and  her  are  awful  fond  of 
one  another.  We've  had  letters  from  them 
both  and  she  says  nex  time  he  comes  for  a 
272 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

visit  she  and  the  little  boy  is  coming,  too. 
So  you'll  see  her  for  yourself." 

Well,  this  was  last  week;  and  to-day  she 
told  us  after  she'd  got  through  coaxing  me 
about  the  money,  that  she  now  cacklates  to 
move  out  to  Seattle  and  live  along  of  Ben. 
She  added  that  she  would  of  done  so  long 
hence  if  it  wan't  for  her  rhumatism,  that 
the  excess  of  fog  out  there  would  be  bad 
for.  I  don't  know  as  I've  told  you  that  she 
has  got  chronicle  rhumatism  and  she's  al 
ways  telling  us  how  she  got  it  and  all 
about  it.  So  much  so  that  Sis  says  she 
(Sis)  could  take  an  examination  in  it  any 
time. 

But  now  she  says  she  don't  believe  it  is 
half  as  bad  as  she  thinks  it  is.  Ben  says  it 
aint  and  she  explained  why.  She  said  "the 
prevailing  mountains  draws  the  sun's  rays 
to  a  fokiss  and  then  they  refragerate  off 
into  space  and  leave  a  vacuum." 

Mr.   Spinney   remarked   it  was  evident 

273 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

there  was  a  vacuum  somewhere  but  he 
rather  thought  it  was  this  side  of  Seattle. 

(I  wouldn't  put  in  so  much  what  the  men 
folks  say,  only  you  told  me  you  always  en 
joy  their  little  jokes  and  remarks.) 

And  Mrs.  Sawyer  says  that  even  chroni 
cle  rhumatism  hadn't  ought  to  seperate 
mother  and  son.  She  told  us  that  the  bond 
between  them  was  extry  strong  because 
Ben  come  to  her  at  a  time  when  she  was 
feeling  far  from  well.  She  had  jest  lost 
her  father  and  two  aunts  and  it  seemed  as 
though  that  little  child  had  come  to  take 
the  place  of  all  three. 

Mr.  Spinney  told  her  that  he  hadn't  no 
ticed  anything  excessive  or  onusual  in  her 
affection,  nothing  anyway  that  seemed  to 
call  for  any  apology  or  explanation. 

This  pleased  her  very  much.  She  likes 
Mr.  Spinney. 

Jim  says  he  didn't  realize  Ben  was  up 
against  any  sech  stunt  as  that — personating 
the  old  man  and  two  aunts  from  his  in* 
274 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

fancy.    It  was  enough  to  dismay  the  stout 
est  heart. 

Moreover,  Mrs.  Sawyer  said  she  felt  it 
was  her  duty  to  go  and  moderate  Ben  down. 
He'd  got  to  be  a  reel  estate  agent  and  was 
arushing  round  here,  there  and  everywhere, 
and  ackchelly  didn't  take  time  to  set  down 
but  even  et  standing  up.  "And,"  she  says, 
"I  shouldn't  wonder  if  he'd  got  so  nervous 
by  this  time  that  he  couldn't  stand  setting 
down  anyway." 

"None  of  us  can  do  that,"  says  Mr. 
Spinney,  and  he  got  up  this  conundrum: 
"Why  is  Mrs.  Ezry  Sawyer  like  the  British 
Empire?  Because  her  son  never  sets." 

She  said  Ben  had  struck  up  a  friendship 
with  a  man  considdable  older  than  himself 
that  boarded  to  the  same  place,  and  this 
f reind  often  said  he  wisht  he  was  back  East, 
money  or  no  money.  "Is  it  your  folks  you're 
hankering  for?"  Ben  asked  him  one  day. 

"Lord,  no!"  he  says;  "I  was  glad  enough 
to  get  quit  of  'em." 

275 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Is  it  the  blue  sky  and  the  sunshine?" 
pursooed  Ben.  He'd  said  himself  the  first 
winter  he  was  there  he'd  swap  a  cupple  of 
house  lots  any  time  for  a  2  foot  patch  of 
blue  sky.  But  now  he  says,  "Mother  %0 
of  the  year  the  climate  is  so  glorious  you 
need  that  kind  of  a  winter  to  keep  you  from 
thinking  you  have  died  and  went  to 
heaven." 

"No,  it  aint!  nor  the  bobolinks,  nor  the 
perriwinkles  (whatever  them  is) — it's  the 
vittles!" 

He  says  he's  jest  about  dead  for  some 
eastern  cooking.  His  wife,  he  told  Ben 
that's  been  dead  for  three  years,  was  a 
splendid  cook.  He  says  he's  had  the  most 
beautiful  dreams  about  her  descending 
down  to  him  with  big  wings  spread  out  and 
a  plait  of  doughnuts  in  her  hand  which 
she  holds  out  to  him,  and  the  whole  busi 
ness  is  so  reel  that  he  can  ackchelly  smell 
the  doughnuts  after  he  has  woke  up.  He 
says  that  if  he  ever  remarries  again  it  won't 
276 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

be  no  pretty  little  do-nothin,  but  a  woman 
that's  mistress  of  the  frying-pan  and  the 
stew-kettle. 

"I'm  glad,"  she  says,  "that  Ben  has  got 
sech  a  freind.  He's  an  awful  good-living 
man,  he  tells  me,  though  plain  and  unpre 
tentious  in  the  face.  He's  named  Mr. 
Cooty." 

"Well  I  got  to  be  going,"  she  says,  "as 
I've  got  considdable  to  do.  The  prices  is 
so  absorbent  in  Seattle  that  I'm  agoing  to 
do  my  trading  here  before  I  go.  Mame, 
have  you  got  your  reciept-book  handy?  I 
want  to  copy  off  a  number  of  them  before 
I  leave.  What  kind  do  you  have  the  best 
luck  with — sour  milk  or  creamy  tarter 
doughnuts?" 

Now  dear  freind,  I  want  to  thank  you 
for  your  lovely  gif,  but  how  can  I  do  it? 
I  have  kep  it  for  the  last,  hoping  I  would 
be  able  to  but  I  aint.  It  looks  jest  like  him, 
more  so  than  the  tin-type  it  was  copied 
from  because  it  is  painted  so  pretty  and 
277 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

deliket.  I  opened  it  in  the  midst  of  all  the 
fun  and  frolic  this  morning,  and  you  had 
ought  to  have  heard  the  sudden  hush  that 
follered  when  I  passed  it  round  for  them 
to  see.  But  nobody  cried  because  we  all 
know  how  happy  he  is.  Only  Mame  drop 
ped  a  tear  or  2  on  the  little  blue  velvet  case 
as  she  handed  it  back. 

Later. 

What  would  you  say  if  I  was  to  tell  you 
that  our  setting-room  was  now  heaped  and 
strewed  round  with  all  kinds  of  beautiful 
and  costly  gifts  fit  for  the  Rothchildren — 
julery,  silver  ware,  leather-covered  books, 
pictures  and  new  and  pretty  garments? 

Well,  I'd  say  it  myself  (whatever  it  is) 
even  being  here  and  seeing  the  things,  as 
I  do,  if  I  didn't  also  see  strewed  round  the 
saw-dust,  excelsior,  and  broke-up  boxes, 
things  that  never  go  with  what  your  fancy 
congers  up.  This  debree  stamps  it  as  facks. 
But  Sis  says  it  seems  like  her  Christmas 
278 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

story  book  come  to  life  and  magnified  a 
hundred  times. 

Hers  is  a  big  doll  with  a  reel  trunk 
(only  small)  full  of  close.  At  first  she 
hardly  darsted  to  touch  it,  it  was  so  dainty 
and  lovely  but  it  don't  seem's  if  she's  took 
her  eyes  off  of  it  once. 

Sis  aint  ever  had  but  one  big  doll  and 
she's  had  that  since  she  was  2  years  and 
thinks  the  world  of  it  because  it  is  most 
as  old  as  she  is.  The  little  boys  has  always 
ben  awful  rough  with  her,  but  they  would 
have  her  to  play  with  because  they  saw  how 
much  Sis  wanted  her  herself  (there's  them 
2  railroad  men  afighting  out  in  Seattle  jest 
like  'em)  and  so  every  Christmas  she  has 
had  to  have  either  a  new  body  or  a  new 
head.  This  time  I  made  a  new  body. 
Once  when  the  doll  was  up  in  Mrs.  Hen- 
nersey's  because  she  was  going  to  have  a 
new  head  put  on  a  little  girl  come  in  with 
her  big  doll  to  play  with  Sis.  Sis  felt  lost 
not  having  any  to  play  with,  too,  so  she 
279 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

had  to  take  the  baby  and  use  him  for  a 
doll.  He  done  very  well  for  a  substitute 
as  he  wan't  very  well  at  the  time  and  was 
kind  of  dumpish,  so  the  little  playmate 
never  knew  the  differance  for  quite  awhile. 

When  we  told  Jim  about  it,  he  stroked 
her  head  awful  tendar  and  says,  "Aint  that 
her  grandmother  Allen  right  out?" 

He  told  us  he  wanted  to  buy  a  nice  doll 
for  her,  new  clear  through  her  system;  but 
Mame  says,  "Jim,  dear,  we  mustn't,  you 
don't  know  I  long  to  do  it  to,  but  we  can't 
afford  it." 

And  they  both  of  them  suffered  for  Sis 
when  Sis  didn't  suffer  at  all.  When  Mrs. 
Hennersey  brought  in  the  old  doll  no 
mother  could  be  in  a  bigger  exstasy  over  a 
prodigle  son  than  she  was  over  that  comi- 
ckle  looking  objeck.  Don't  ever  waste  any 
sympathy  over  a  little  girl  with  an  old  doll. 
Sis  will  worship  the  new  doll  but  it's  the 
old  one  she'll  love. 

When  Jim  saw  he  couldn't  give  Sis  the 
280 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

playsure  he  wanted  to,  he  begun,  as  usual, 
to  look  on  the  bright  side,  and  said  anyway 
Sis  hadn't  to  have  any  onpleasant  discovery 
about  her  doll  being  stuffed  with  saw  dust. 
She'd  knowed  what  her  insides  was  ever 
since  Bub  had  ben  old  enough  to  grab 
things. 

Mame's  pressent  is  silver  things  for  the 
table  and  a  broach  with  jewels  in  it. 
Mandy  got  a  beautiful  broach,  too,  and  a 
beaded  shattylaine  bag  with  a  perce  of 
money  in  it,  (Mr.  Spinney  says  she  can 
now  spend  the  rest  of  her  natural  life  at 
the  photographer's)  and  the  beautiful 
french  clock  with  the  chimes  is  Mr.  Spin 
ney's  and  the  gold  watch  is  Jim's.  The 
libery  of  books  is  for  all  of  us  bound  in 
leather  and  as  much  as  200  of  them  and  on 
the  card  it  said,  For  the  Home  Reading 
Club.  There's  a  fine  case  to  hold  them. 
Even  Mrs.  Sawyer  wan't  forgot  and  there 
a  gold  pencil  in  a  white  kid  case  for  her. 
For  me  there  was  a  beautiful  gold  ring 
281 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

with  a  turquoise  and  2  little  dimonds  (it's 
the  hardest  of  all  to  believe  I  have  got  a 
ring  with  dimonds  in  it)  and  on  that  card 
it  said  (she's  the  greatest,  she  is)  For  the 
kind  little  hand  that  wrote  the  Letter. 
Then  she'd  scribbled  underneath  that  it  was 
only  a  pledge  of  my  reel  gif  that  was  com 
ing  later.  Jest  think  of  that! 

Of  the  big  heap  of  books  for  the  chil 
dren  I  can't  go  into  particklers,  but  the 
children  is  jest  about  crazy  over  them.  And 
at  this  moment  Mame  is  kneeling  in  front 
of  a  great  box  of  beautiful  children's  close 
and  jest  about  going  into  a  fit  over  every 
one,  especially  the  dresses  and  coat  for  the 
baby.  He's  asleep  and  she  can't  hardly 
wait  for  him  to  wake  up  so  she  can  try 
them  on.  Well,  I  guess  none  of  us  know 
jest  what  we're  doing,  we're  all  in  sech  a 
state  of  excitement.  I  don't  see  how  we 
can  have  any  dinner  to-day — there's  no  one 
carm  enough  to  peel  the  vegetables. 

There!  I  do  believe  I  have  forgot  to 
282 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

tell  you  who  sent  the  things.  You  see  what 
a  state  I'm  in.  It  was  Jason  and  Natalie, 
and  may  we  be  as  happy  as  they  are  now. 
(I  mean  the  other  way  round.)  Jim  don't 
know  about  it  yet  because  he  had  some 
work  to  finish  at  the  shop  and  he  aint  got 
back  yet.  There's  a  little  package  for  him 
that's  sealed  up.  Mr.  Spinney  opened  the 
boxes  for  us.  Mame  asked  him  to  "be 
cause  it  was  so  hard  for  the  children  to 
wait."  (The  children!) 

Jim  has  got  home  and  when  he  saw  the 
state  of  the  setting-room  he  says,  "Well, 
well!  Who's  got  burnt  out  now?" 

Then  the  whole  fambly  pitched  in  and 
all  talked,  or  screamed,  to  once  telling  him 
about  it.  And  he  was  jest  like  a  boy  with 
that  gold  watch.  My!  if  he  want  tickled 
over  it! 

But  when  he  opened  the  little  sealed 
package  his  face  sobered  and  when  Mame 
looked  over  his  shoulder  at  the  small  book 
283 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

he  held  in  his  hand  she  grew  white  and 
motioned  for  me  to  come  and  see,  but  not 
to  tell  the  children.  It  was  a  bank  book 
showing  a  large  sum  of  money  dispossited 
to  his  credit  in  the  bank.  It  was  so  large 
it  scared  me  but  I  can't  tell  you  how  much 
because  we've  all  promised  we  wont  tell 
anybody;  but  I  will  say  there  is  4  figures  to 
it.  When  I  saw  the  3  ciphers  I  thought 
there  must  be  a  mistake  and  the  man  that 
wrote  it  down  got  kind  of  nervous  and  kep 
on  making  them  when  he'd  ought  to  stop ; 
but  there  it  was  wrote  out  in  words  besides, 
so  it  was  all  right. 

Jim  with  that  sober  look  still  on  his  face, 
got  down  on  his  knees  and  uttared  a  prayer 
of  thanks.  We  all  knelt  with  him  and  said 
amen  at  the  close.  How  could  our  Christ 
mas  be  any  happier  than  it  is,  including  all 
the  bright  hope  for  the  future? 
Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 


284 


XXVI 

New  Year's  Day,  January  I  th,  1907. 
Miss  Musgrove,  dear  freind, 

I  don't  know  as  I  can  compose  myself  to 
write  but  I  want  to  tell  you  the  verry  first 
one,  though  you  don't  seem  jest  the  same 
now  any  more  than  any  thing  else  seems  the 
same.  Everything  appears  like  when  you 
look  through  one  of  them  glass  prizzums 
where  everything  is  reely  the  same  but  kind 
of  glorified  up. 

When  I  was  a  little  girl  I  had  one  of 
them  prizzums  that  come  off  of  Grammy's 
parlor  lamp,  and  I  used  to  lend  it  to  my 
little  playmates  when  they  was  sick  in  the 
house  for  amusement.  Other  times  it  was 
kep  in  the  little  red  box  with  my  other 
traysures.  It  all  come  back  to  me  last  night 
and  that  prizzum  has  ben  with  me  in  sperit 
ever  since.  But  I  must  tell  you  all  about 
285 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

the  wonderful   thing  that  has  happened. 

Last  night  I  was  alone  in  the  setting- 
room  when  Mr.  Spinney  come  in.  Jim 
and  Mame  had  gone  to  the  theatre,  the 
children  was  in  bed,  and  Mandy  was  wash 
ing  up  the  supper  dishes.  She  aint  so  par 
ticular  washing  dishes  as  she  might  be,  I 
am  foarced  to  say.  They  are  more  likely 
than  not  to  be  adhecive,  and  Jim  says  that 
when  you  get  aholt  of  a  genuyne  Mandy- 
washed  dish  it  aint  any  easy  matter  to  leave 
go  of  it  again.  At  sech  moments  the  attrac 
tion  of  gravity  seems  to  lose  its  power. 
One  day  when  there  was  a  pudding  in  the 
oven  baking,  Mame  told  Mandy  to  stick 
a  knife  into  it,  and  if  the  knife  come  out 
clean  it  was  done. 

"And  if  it  does  come  out  clean,"  says 
Jim,  "stick  all  the  knives  in." 

I  asked  Mr.  Spinney  how  his  mother 
was  and  he  said  she  had  ben  attacked  by 
another  Latin  disease  beside  which  all  the 
286 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

former  ones  paled  as  stars  before  the  sun; 
but  it  wan't  appendiciters, — that  much  he 
knew — and  he  guessed  his  mother  after  all 
would  outlive  her  appendicks  for  as  many 
vitel  complaints  as  she  had  passed  through 
they  hadn't  ben  heard  from  yet.  He  told 
me  this  last  sickness  had  took  all  his 
money  and  he  was  foarced  to  pawn  quite 
a  number  of  things  besides.  He  asked  me 
if  I  didn't  recolleck  the  time  we  asked  him 
where  he  was  the  night  before  and  he  had 
told  us  he'd  ben  to  three  balls.  Course  I 
did  and  how  society  we  thought  he  was. 
Little  did  we  know.  "And  during  that 
distressful  period,"  he  says,  "my  meals  was 
more  in  the  nature  of  symbols  than  the  reel 
thing." 

"Oh!"  I  says,  "why  didn't  you  tell  us? 
I  had  most  75$." 

"That's  jest  why,"  he  says;  "I  knew  you 
had  it." 

"And  you  didn't  even  ever  come  in  to 
287 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

supper  same   as   you   did   when   you  was 
prosperous." 

"No ;  for  you  to  give  me  supper  when  I 
could  afford  it  myself  was  hospertality; 
but  when  I  couldn't  afford  to  get  it  myself, 
it  was  charity.  But  that  is  all  over  now. 
Mother's  internal  economy  (though  I  can 
hardly  foarce  myself  to  call  it  that  when  it 
has  cost  so  like  blazes)  is  now  in  working 
order  and  I  have  had  a  big  raise." 

"So  has  Jim,"  I  says,  "at  the  beginning 
of  the  year.  One  reason  for  it  is  he  aint 
touched  a  drop  for  over  a  year.  We  don't 
have  that  to  worry  about  now. 

"Then  there's  other  things  that  makes  the 
New  Year  sech  a  happy  one.  We  feel 
quite  encouraged  about  Mandy.  She  is  be 
ginning  to  have  gleams.  She  had  one  last 
night  when  there  was  callers  in,  and  they 
took  notice  of  it,  too.  Then  her  and  Mame 
gets  along  more  peaceable  than  they  did, 
and  the  boys  aint  any  wheres  near  as  tem 
pestuous  as  they  was." 
288 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

"Jen,"  he  says  like  a  meteor  out  of  a  clear 
sky,  "what  do  you  say  to  adding  me  to 
your  menadgery?" 

Of  course  I  thought  he  meant  taking  him 
to  board,  and  I  says  "That  will  be  as  Jim 
and  Mame  say,"  only  adding  that  our 
meals  was  plain  and  unpretentous  as  a 
rule. 

Then  he  told  me  he  wanted  me  to  be  his 
wife. 

It  took  me  so  by  surprise  that  I  couldn't 
speak  for  a  long  time.  I  had  thought  no 
woman  in  the  world  was  good  enough  or 
bright  enough  to  be  his  wife  and  here  he 
was  asking  me. 

Seeing  I  couldn't  speak,  he  went  on  and 
said  I  was  the  only  woman  in  the  world 
for  him;  and  that  when  he  went  away  the 
picture  of  the  happy  little  figger  in  the  sew 
ing-chair  (that  was  me)  always  went  with 
him.  Then  he  told  me  he  had  never  be 
fore  ben  in  a  position  to  marry,  but  now  all 
280 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

was  bright  and  gay  and  he  wanted  me  to 
share  his  good  fortune. 

"What  a  home  we'll  have,  Jennie,"  he 
says;  "why!  you  are  home  itself.  Jest 
you  setting  out  on  the  sidewalk  would  look 
like  home." 

Then  he  got  off  a  lot  of  tendar  remarks 
which  I  should  be  ashamed  to  write  down, 
though  they  was  quite  pleassant  to  hear. 
But  what  surprised  me  the  most  of  all  was 
when  he  said  one  thing  he  loved  me  for  was 
because  I  didn't  have  no  nerves. 

"You  are  the  only  woman  in  the  world, 
he  says,  "that  is  entirely  free  from  them  ob 
noxious  members;  and  if  that  aint  enough 
distinction  for  my  wife?  I'd  like  to  know 
what  is." 

They  talk  a  lot  about  love  being  the  same 
old  story.  This  is  jest  as  different  as  it  can 
be  from  anything  before  or  since. 

Mame  has  read  to  us  evenings  about 
the  great  loves  of  history;  and  I  should 
like  to  know  if  Danty  made  love  to  Bea- 
290 


THE  LETTERS  OF  JENNIE  ALLEN 

triss  or  Pete  Rark  made  love  to  Laury  as 
Mr.  Spinney  made  it  to  me.  He  is  too 
bright  and  origineral  to  copy  after  any  one 
of  them.  What  he  said  about  me  not  hav 
ing  any  nerves  and  him  loving  me  for  it 
was  uttared  for  the  first  time  in  history 
when  he  uttared  it. 

I  can't  realize  it  is  all  true  but  I  wish 
every  woman  was  ^2  as  happy  as  I  am  to 
night.  Your  true  freind, 

Jennie  Allen. 

It  is  going  to  be  in  the  old  homestead  in 
Chictooset  and  the  whole  fambly  and  his 
mother  will  be  there.  Furthermore  than 
that  he  says  he  has  good  reason  for  knowing 
that  Jason  and  Natalie  and  little  Adrien 
will  be  there,  too.  We  are  going  to  ask 
Willie  Jameson  to  be  the  minister. 

We  are  going  to  live  close  to  my  folks 
so  I  can  help  them  when  they  need  me, 
and  his  mother  is  going  to  live  with  us. 
My  cup  runneth  over. 

291 


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